|
Titanosaurian
Titanosaurs (or titanosaurians; members of the group Titanosauria) were a diverse group of sauropod dinosaurs, including genera from all seven continents. The titanosaurs were the last surviving group of long-necked sauropods, with taxa still thriving at the time of the extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous. This group includes some of the largest land animals known to have ever existed, such as ''Patagotitan''—estimated at long with a weight of —and the comparably-sized '' Argentinosaurus'' and ''Puertasaurus'' from the same region. The group's name alludes to the mythological Titans of ancient Greek mythology, via the type genus (now considered a ''nomen dubium)'' ''Titanosaurus''. Together with the brachiosaurids and relatives, titanosaurs make up the larger sauropod clade Titanosauriformes. Titanosaurs have long been a poorly-known group, and the relationships between titanosaur species are still not well-understood. Description Titanosauria have the largest ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dreadnoughtus
''Dreadnoughtus'' is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur containing a single species, ''Dreadnoughtus schrani''. ''D. schrani'' is known from two partial skeletons discovered in Upper Cretaceous (Campanian to Maastrichtian; approximately 76–70 Ma) rocks of the Cerro Fortaleza Formation in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. It is one of the largest terrestrial vertebrates known, with the immature type specimen reaching in total body length and possessing the greatest mass of any land animal that can be calculated with reasonable certainty. ''D. schrani'' is known from more complete skeletons than any other gigantic titanosaurian. Drexel University paleontologist Kenneth Lacovara, who discovered the species, chose the name ''Dreadnoughtus'', which means “fears nothing", stating “I think it’s time the herbivores get their due for being the toughest creatures in an environment." Discovery and study American palaeontologist Kenneth Lacovara discovered the remains in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of the entire Phanerozoic. The name is derived from the Latin ''creta'', "chalk", which is abundant in the latter half of the period. It is usually abbreviated K, for its German translation ''Kreide''. The Cretaceous was a period with a relatively warm climate, resulting in high eustatic sea levels that created numerous shallow inland seas. These oceans and seas were populated with now- extinct marine reptiles, ammonites, and rudists, while dinosaurs continued to dominate on land. The world was ice free, and forests extended to the poles. During this time, new groups of mammals and birds appeared. During the Early Cretaceous, flowering plants appeared and began to rapidly diversify, becoming the dominant group of plants across the Earth b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brasilotitan
''Brasilotitan'' (meaning "Brazil giant") is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (early Maastrichtian) Adamantina Formation of Brazil. The type species is ''Brasilotitan nemophagus''. Material and morphology The holotype was collected near Presidente Prudente city, São Paulo state. It consists of a dentary, cervical and sacral vertebrae, one ungual, and remains of the pelvic region. The mandible has an 'L' shaped morphology, with the symphyseal region of the dentary slightly twisted medially, a feature never recorded before in any titanosaur. Phylogeny Although the phylogenetic position of ''Brasilotitan'' is difficult to establish, the new species is neither basal nor a derived member of Titanosauria. Based on lower jaw morphology, it appears to be closely related to ''Antarctosaurus ''Antarctosaurus'' (; meaning "southern lizard") is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now South America. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laplatasaurus
''Laplatasaurus'' (meaning "La Plata lizard", named for La Plata, Argentina) is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous in South America, with the holotype and only known specimen found in the Anacleto Formation. Naming and description The genus was named in 1927 by Friedrich von Huene, but without a description, so that it remained a '' nomen nudum''. In 1929 the type species, ''Laplatasaurus araukanicus'', was described by Huene. The generic name refers to La Plata. The specific name is derived from the ''Araucanos'' or Mapuche. By accident Huene in 1929 also mentioned a "Laplatasaurus wichmannianus" but that was a ''lapsus calami'' for '' Antarctosaurus wichmannianus''. In 1933 however, he and Charles Alfred Matley renamed ''Titanosaurus madagascariensis'' to ''Laplatasaurus madagascariensis''. This last species is today commonly referred to the original ''Titanosaurus''. Huene based ''Laplatasaurus'' on fragmentary material found ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karongasaurus
''Karongasaurus'' (meaning "Karonga District" lizard) is a genus of titanosaur sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous. The type species, ''K. gittelmani'', was described by Elizabeth Gomani in 2005.Gomani, E. M. (2005)Sauropod Dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous of Malawi, Africa ''Palaeontologia Electronica'' Volume: 8, Issue: 1, Pages: 37pp. Discovery and naming The holotype (specimen Mal-175), consisting solely of part of a lower mandible and twenty isolated teeth, were found in the Dinosaur Beds of Malawi between 1987 and 1992. ''Karongasaurus'' was the first dinosaur named in a publication that was published solely online; ''Karongasaurus gittelmani'' was named and described by Gomani (2005). Description The mandible of ''Karongasaurus'' is U-shaped in dorsal view and the teeth are described as slender and conical in shape, being more cylindrical than those of ''Malawisaurus''. Classification Gomani (2005) placed ''Karongasaurus'' within Titanosauria and concluded t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kaijutitan
''Kaijutitan'' (meaning "Kaiju titan" after the type of Japanese movie monsters) is a genus of basal titanosaur dinosaur from the Sierra Barrosa Formation from Neuquén Province in Argentina. The type and only species is ''Kaijutitan maui''. Discovery and naming ''Kaijutitan'' was discovered by a team of researchers from the Museo Municipal Argentino Urquiza and the Museo Provincial de Ciencias Naturales “Prof. Dr. Juan Olsacher" from a layer from the Sierra Barrosa Formation, in Cañadón Mistringa, about 9 km southwest of the city of Rincón de los Sauces, in Neuquen, Argentina. Description ''Kaijutitan'' is known from the holotype MAU-Pv-CM-522, stored at the Museo Municipal Argentino Urquiza, Paleontología de Vertebrados, Cañadón Mistringa, which is a partial skeleton preserving elements from several parts of the skeleton. It can be distinguished from other titanosaurians through the possession of unique traits: the width between the basal tuberosities is almost fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jiangshanosaurus
''Jiangshanosaurus'' is a genus of herbivorous titanosauriform sauropod dinosaur that lived in China approximately 92-88 million years ago, during the Turonian- Coniacian stage of the Late Cretaceous. Discovery and naming In 1977 and 1978 a sauropod skeleton was excavated by paleontologists Wei Feng, Wu Weitang and Kang Ximin in the Jinhua Formation of Lixian Village, Jiangshan county, in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang. The type and only named species, ''Jiangshanosaurus lixianensis'', was formally described by Tang Feng, Kang, Jin Xingsheng, Wei and Wu in 2001. The holotype, ZNM M1322, of ''J.lixianensis'' includes elements of the left shoulder, five back vertebrae, three tail vertebrae, the pubic bones, the ischia, and a left femur.Feng Tang, Xi-Min Kang, Xing-Sheng Jin, Feng Wei, Wei-Tang Wu (2001"A New Sauropod Dinosaur of Cretaceous From Jiangshan, Zhejiang Province"in: ''Vertebrata PalAsiatica.'' Bd. 39, Nr. 4, pp. 272–281. The genus name refers to Jiangsh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iuticosaurus
''Iuticosaurus'' (meaning "Jute lizard") is a genus of titanosaur sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of the Isle of Wight. Two species have been named: ''I. valdensis'' and ''I. lydekkeri''. ''I. valdensis'' was found in the Wessex Formation and ''I. lydekkeri'' in the younger Upper Greensand. History and taxonomy In 1887 Richard Lydekker described two sauropod tail vertebrae found by William D. Fox near Brook Bay on Wight, BMNH R146a and BMNH 151, and referred them to the genus ''Ornithopsis'', despite indicating their similarity to ''Titanosaurus'' (noting them once as ''Titanosaurus'' species A and ''Titanosaurus'' species B), because the tail of ''Ornithopsis'' was unknown.Lydekker, R., 1887, "On certain dinosaurian vertebrae from the Cretaceous of India and the Isle of Wight", ''Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London'' 43: 157–160 On reading the paper to the Geological Society of London, Lydekker was criticised by Harry Govier Seeley and John Hulke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hypselosaurus
''Hypselosaurus'' (meaning 'highest lizard', from Greek meaning 'high' or 'lofty' and meaning 'lizard') is a dubious genus of titanosaurian sauropod that lived in southern France during the Late Cretaceous, approximately 70 million years ago in the early Maastrichtian. ''Hypselosaurus'' was first described in 1846, but was not formally named until 1869, when Phillip Matheron named it under the binomial ''Hypselosaurus priscus''. The holotype specimen includes a partial hindlimb and a pair of caudal vertebrae, and two eggshell fragments were found alongside these bones. Because of the proximity of these eggshells to the fossil remains, many later authors, including Matheron and Paul Gervais, have assigned several eggs from the same region of France all to ''Hypselosaurus'', although the variation and differences between these eggs suggest that they do not all belong to the same taxon. ''Hypselosaurus'' has been found in the same formation as the dromaeosaurids '' Variraptor'' and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Huabeisaurus
''Huabeisaurus'' (, meaning " North China lizard") was a genus of dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous ( Cenomanian to Maastrichtian stages, around 99.7–70.6 million years ago). It was a sauropod which lived in what is present-day northern China. The type species, ''Huabeisaurus allocotus'', was first described by Pang Qiqing and Cheng Zhengwu in 2000. ''Huabeisaurus'' is known from numerous remains found in the 1990s, which include teeth, partial limbs and vertebrae. Due to its relative completeness, ''Huabeisaurus'' represents a significant taxon for understanding sauropod evolution in Asia. ''Huabeisaurus'' comes from Kangdailiang and Houyu, Zhaojiagou Town, Tianzhen County, Shanxi province, China. The holotype was found in the unnamed upper member of the Huiquanpu Formation, which is Late Cretaceous (?Cenomanian–?Campanian) in age based on ostracods, charophytes, and fission-track dating. ''Huabeisaurus'' measures long and high, as estimated by Pang and Cheng in 2000. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamititan
''Hamititan'' (meaning "Hami giant") is a genus of titanosaur sauropod dinosaur from the Shengjinkou Formation of Xinjiang, China. It contains one species, the type species, ''Hamititan xinjiangensis''. Discovery and naming In 2006, a Konservat-Lagerstätte was reported from the Shengjinkou Formation in the Hami region of Xinjiang, China. This consisted of lake sediments allowing for exceptional preservation of fossils. The same year, Qiu Zhanxiang and Wang Banyue started official excavations. Among the excavated fossils were seven caudal vertebrae with three chevrons preserved. These were established as the holotype (HM V22) of the new sauropod taxon, ''Hamititan''. Four sacral elements, specimen IVPP V27875, were not referred. A theropod tooth was found near the sixth caudal vertebra of the holotype. It is likely that this theropod preyed on the holotype shortly after it died. The generic name refers to the city of Hami, where the holotype was found, while the specific nam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dongyangosaurus
''Dongyangosaurus'' is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous. The only species is ''Dongyangosaurus sinensis'', from which only a single fragmentary skeleton is known, coming from the Zhejiang province of eastern China. It was described and named by Lü Junchang and colleagues. Like other sauropods, ''Dongyangosaurus'' would have been a large quadrupedal herbivore. Description The only skeleton (holotype DYM 04888) is stored in the Dongyang Museum (Dongyang, Zhejiang). It consists of ten dorsal vertebrae, the sacrum, two caudal vertebrae as well as the complete pelvis. The skeleton was found articulated. ''Dongyangosaurus'' was a midsized sauropod, measuring approximately 50 ft (15 m) in length and 15 ft (5 m) in height. The dorsal vertebrae were characterized by eye shaped pleurocoels and low bifurcated neural spines. The sacrum consisted of six fused sacral vertebrae, a feature unique to somphospondylans. The caudal vertebrae were amphic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
