Paleontologists Unearth New Species of Titanosaur in Argentina
A new genus and species of sauropod titanosaur dinosaur that lived during the Cretaceous period have been identified from fossilized remains found in northern Patagonia, Argentina.
Reconstruction of the life of Yeneen Houssayi. Image credit: Gabriel Lío.
Appointed Yeneen Houssayithe new species roamed our planet around 83 million years ago (Upper Cretaceous epoch).
The ancient creature belongs to the Titanosauria, a group of large, long-necked, herbivorous dinosaurs that were widespread throughout the supercontinent Gondwana.
“Yeneen Houssayi had a small head compared to the rest of its body,” said Dr. Leonardo Filippi, paleontologist at CONICET and Museo Municipal Argentino Urquiza.
“It measured between 10 and 12 m (33 to 39 feet) in length and weighed approximately 8 to 10 tonnes.”
The fossil remains of Yeneen Houssayi were recovered from the Bajo de la Carpa Formation at a locality known as Cerro Overo-La Invernada in the Neuquén Province, Patagonia, Argentina.
The material represents one of the most complete skeletons of a titanosaur from this region, preserving six cervical vertebrae, ten dorsal vertebrae with associated ribs, the sacrum, and the first caudal vertebra.
In addition to the holotype individual, paleontologists have identified the remains of at least two other sauropods at the site, including a juvenile specimen and another adult titanosaur that appears to belong to a different, as-yet-undescribed species.
“Phylogenetic analysis indicates that Yeneen Houssayi is closely related to Narambuenatitan And Surosauras a basal member of an unnamed clade of derived non-lithostrotian saltasauroids,” they said.
“Evidence from the sauropod titanosaur fauna of Cerro Overo-La Invernada suggests that during the Santonian species diversity was relatively high and at least two lineages coexisted: Collossosauria and Saltasauroidea.”
“This discovery makes the Cerro Overo-La Invernada area the one with the greatest diversity of titanosaurs for the Santonian of the Neuquén Basin, making it an exceptional area for understanding the evolution of dinosaur faunas for this period.”
The discovery is reported in an article published on January 12, 2026 in the journal Historical biology.
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LS Filippi and others. Yeneen Houssayi gen. and sp. nov. and an overview of the diversity of sauropod titanosaurs from the Cerro Overo – La Invernada region (Bajo de la Carpa Formation, Santonian), Northern Patagonia, Argentina. Historical biologypublished online January 12, 2026; doi: 10.1080/08912963.2025.2584707
