The femoral anatomy of Pampadromaeus barberenai based on a new specimen from the Upper Triassic of Brazil

Femora of the holotype and only previously known specimen of the early sauropodomorph Pampadromaeus barberenai are incomplete and fractured. Here, we describe a new complete femur assigned to Pampadromaeus barberenai, quarried from the same outcrop of original type specimen: ‘Janner’ site, (Carnian of the Paraná Basin). It shares with the holotype of Pampadromaeus barberenai a unique combination of features: anteromedial tuber slightly posteromedially displaced; lesser trochanter proximodistally oriented with the proximal tip gently connected to the femoral shaft; fourth trochanter located on the medial margin along the mediolateral axis of the femur and with an assymetrical outline. In addition, we propose a femoral autapomorphy for Pampadromaeus barberenai: lateral condyle of the distal end of the femur extremely reduced lateromedially. Two distinct phylogenetic analyses place the new specimen as the sister-group of the Pampadromaeus barberenai type-specimen and, in one of them, they are nested within Sauropodomorpha, corroborating the original description and taxonomic assignation.