Lirainosaurinae is a subfamily of lithostrotian

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 thr ...

sauropods from 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 ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Systematics

Lirainosaurinae was defined by Díez Díaz ''et al.'' (2018) as comprising "''

Lirainosaurus ''Lirainosaurus'' (meaning "slender lizard"; from the Basque ''lirain'', meaning "slender", and the Greek ''sauros'', meaning "lizard")is a genus of titanosaur sauropod which lived in what is now Spain. The type species, ''Lirainosaurus astibiae ...

'', ''

Ampelosaurus ''Ampelosaurus'' ( ; meaning "vine lizard") is a titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now France. Its type species is ''A. atacis'', named by Le Loeuff in 1995. A possible unnamed species has given ''Ampel ...

'', their common ancestor, and all of its descendants", and includes the two definitional taxa as well as ''

Atsinganosaurus ''Atsinganosaurus'' is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur which existed in what is now France during the late Cretaceous period. Well-preserved remains (and the only known) of ''Atsinganosaurus'' were collected from the Grès à Reptiles ...

'', '' Lohuecotitan'', and ''

Paludititan ''Paludititan'' is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur which lived in the area of present Romania during the Late Cretaceous. It existed in the island ecosystem known as Hațeg Island. Discovery and naming In 2002, a Belgian-Romanian exp ...

''. The five genera are known from

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and all within the timespan of the late

Campanian The Campanian is the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous Epoch on the geologic timescale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). In chronostratigraphy, it is the fifth of six stages in the Upper Cretaceous Series. Campani ...

(''Lirainosaurus'') to early

Maastrichtian The Maastrichtian () is, in the ICS geologic timescale, the latest age (uppermost stage) of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series, the Cretaceous Period or System, and of the Mesozoic Era or Erathem. It spanned the interval ...

(''Ampelosaurus'' and ''Atsinganosaurus''). Lirainosaurinae was recovered by Diez ''et al.'' (2018) as phylogenetically intermediate between the clades traditionally considered Saltasauridae and a clade containing taxa normally found in Aeolosaurini and

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 ...

. Unpublished cladistic results by Mocho ''et al.'' (2019) recover ''Lohuecotitan'' and ''Paludititan'' as members of Lirainosaurinae, and place Lirainosaurinae as an early-diverging branch of Saltasauridae.Mocho P, Páramo A, Escaso F, Marcos-Fernández F, Vidal D, Ortega F. 2019. Titanosaurs from Lo Hueco (Campanian-Maastrichtian) reveal new information about the evolutionary history of European titanosaurs, pp. 111. In: The Palaeontological Association (ed.), 63rd Annual Meeting, 15th–21st December 2019, University of Valencia, Spain, Programme Abstracts, AGM papers

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q85776812 Cretaceous dinosaurs Lithostrotians