''Dzharatitanis'' (meaning "Dzharakuduk titan") is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

sauropod Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their bo ...

from the

Bissekty Formation The Bissekty Formation (sometimes referred to as Bissekt) is a geologic formation and Lagerstätte which crops out in the Kyzyl Kum desert of Uzbekistan, and dates to the Late Cretaceous Period. Laid down in the mid to late Turonian, it is dated ...

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

, dating to the

Turonian The Turonian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, the second age in the Late Cretaceous Epoch, or a stage in the Upper Cretaceous Series. It spans the time between 93.9 ± 0.8 Ma and 89.8 ± 1 Ma (million years ago). The Turonian is preceded by t ...

age of the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the ...

. The genus contains a single species, ''Dzharatitanis kingi,'' named after geologist Christopher King, who contributed to the Cretaceous geology of Asia. It is currently one of two known sauropods from the Bissekty Formation, alongside an indeterminate

titanosaur 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 th ...

. In its original publication it was considered to be a member of

Rebbachisauridae Rebbachisauridae is a family of sauropod dinosaurs known from fragmentary fossil remains from the Cretaceous of South America, Africa, North America, Europe and possibly Central Asia. Taxonomy In 1990 sauropod specialist Jack McIntosh included t ...

, but later papers considered it to be a

Discovery and naming

The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

was found in 1997 by

Hans-Dieter Sues Hans-Dieter Sues (born January 13, 1956) is a German-born American paleontologist who is Senior Scientist and Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. He receiv ...

and David J. Ward during the URBAC (Uzbek/Russian/British/American/Canadian) expedition. It was classified as a titanosaur before being given a name on two occasions - firstly by Sues ''et al.'' (2015) and then by Averianov and Sues (2017). The genus ''Dzharatitanis'' was described in 2021 by Alexander Averianov and

. It was named after the Dzharakuduk locality in Uzbekistan and the

titans In Greek mythology, the Titans ( grc, οἱ Τῑτᾶνες, ''hoi Tītânes'', , ''ho Tītân'') were the pre-Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (Sky) and Ga ...

in ancient

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

. The genus was based on an anterior

caudal vertebra The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates,Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristic ...

(USNM 538127), likely representing the first caudal, that was originally described as belonging to an intermediate

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 thr ...

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

. The juvenile dorsal sauropod centrum USNM 538133 may also belong to this taxon.

Classification

The

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

analysis by Averianov and Sues places ''Dzharatitanis'' in the

, in an unresolved

polytomy An internal node of a phylogenetic tree is described as a polytomy or multifurcation if (i) it is in a rooted tree and is linked to three or more child subtrees or (ii) it is in an unrooted tree and is attached to four or more branches. A tr ...

with ''

Demandasaurus ''Demandasaurus'' (meaning " Demanda lizard") is a genus of rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaur from early Cretaceous (late Barremian – early Aptian stage) deposits of Spain. ''Demandasaurus'' is known from an incomplete but associated skeleton th ...

'', ''

Nigersaurus ''Nigersaurus'' is a genus of rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaur that lived during the middle Cretaceous period, about 115 to 105 million years ago. It was discovered in the Elrhaz Formation in an area called Gadoufaoua, in Niger. Fossils of th ...

'', ''

Rayososaurus ''Rayososaurus'' is a genus of plant-eating sauropod dinosaur of the superfamily Diplodocoidea. It was found in the Candeleros Formation, but was named ''Rayososaurus'' after the Rayoso Member, which later has been elevated to the older Rayoso Fo ...

'' and ''

Rebbachisaurus ''Rebbachisaurus'' (meaning "Khebbash, Aït Rebbach lizard") is a genus of sauropod dinosaur of the superfamily Diplodocoidea, that lived during the Late Cretaceous period in Africa and possibly also South America about 99-97 million years ago. R ...

''. The taxon shares with ''Demandasaurus'' and the unnamed rebbachisaur from the

Wessex Formation The Wessex Formation is a fossil-rich English geological formation that dates from the Berriasian to Barremian stages (about 145–125 million years ago) of the Early Cretaceous. It forms part of the Wealden Group and underlies the younger Vecti ...

a high spinodiapophyseal

lamina Lamina may refer to: Science and technology * Planar lamina, a two-dimensional planar closed surface with mass and density, in mathematics * Laminar flow, (or streamline flow) occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption betwee ...

on the lateral side of the neural spine, separated from the spinoprezygapophyseal lamina and spinopostzygapophyseal lamina, which may indicate a close relationship between these taxa. However, a study published only a few months later disputed this classification, finding it to be a titanosaur instead, with close affinities to

Lognkosauria Lognkosauria is a clade of giant long-necked sauropod dinosaurs within the clade Titanosauria. It includes some of the largest and heaviest dinosaurs known. Description Lognkosaurians can be distinguished from other titanosaurs by the wide and u ...

. The two contrasting results are shown below. Averianov & Sues, 2021 Lerzo, Carballido, & Gallina, 2021

References

Rebbachisaurids Lithostrotians Late Cretaceous dinosaurs of Asia Bissekty Formation Fossil taxa described in 2021 Taxa named by Alexander O. Averianov Taxa named by Hans-Dieter Sues {{Sauropodomorph-stub