Saltasauroidea is a

superfamily SUPERFAMILY is a database and search platform of structural and functional annotation for all proteins and genomes. It classifies amino acid sequences into known structural domains, especially into SCOP superfamilies. Domains are functional, str ...

titanosaurs 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 ...

named by França and colleagues in 2016 based on their phylogenetic results, for a clade uniting

Aeolosaurini Aeolosaurini is an extinct clade of titanosaurian dinosaurs known from the Cretaceous period of Argentina and Brazil. Rodrigo M. Santucci and Antonio C. de Arruda-Campos (2011) in their cladistic analysis found ''Aeolosaurus'', ''Gondwanatitan'', ...

and

Saltasauridae Saltasauridae (named after the Salta region of Argentina where they were first found) is a family of armored herbivorous sauropods from the Upper Cretaceous. They are known from fossils found in South America, Asia, North America, and Europe. Th ...

, as well as the intermediate genera ''

Baurutitan ''Baurutitan'' is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now Brazil. The type species, ''Baurutitan britoi'', was described in 2005 by Kellner and colleagues, although the fossil remains had already been d ...

'', ''

Diamantinasaurus ''Diamantinasaurus'' is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod from Australia that lived during the early Late Cretaceous, about 94 million years ago. The type species of the genus is ''D. matildae'', first described and named in 2009 in paleontology, ...

'' and ''

Isisaurus ''Isisaurus'' (named after the Indian Statistical Institute) is a genus of titanosaurian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Lameta Formation of India. The genus contains a single species, ''Isisaurus colberti''. Discovery and Naming The type spe ...

''. The group was not defined or discussed in the text, but was supported by Carballido and colleagues in 2022 as a useful designation for subdividing titanosaurs. As there was no discussion about the intentions for the clade, Carballido gave it the definition of all taxa closer to ''

Saltasaurus ''Saltasaurus'' (which means "lizard from Salta") is a genus of saltasaurid dinosaur of the Late Cretaceous period of Argentina. Small among sauropods, though still heavy by the standards of modern creatures, ''Saltasaurus'' was characterized by ...

'' than ''

Patagotitan ''Patagotitan'' is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Cerro Barcino Formation in Chubut Province, Patagonia, Argentina. The genus contains a single species known from multiple individuals: ''Patagotitan mayorum'', first announce ...

'', encompassing half of

Eutitanosauria Eutitanosauria is a clade of titanosaurs, encompassing the more derived members of the group and characterized by the absence of the hyposphene-hypantrum articulation and possibly the presence of osteoderms. The group was first named by Sanz and c ...

as the sister taxon to the inversely defined Colossosauria. Carballido ''et al.'' placed

Nemegtosauridae Nemegtosauridae is a Scientific classification, family of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaurs based on their diplodocidae, diplodocid-like skulls. Only three species are known: ''Nemegtosaurus'', ''Quaesitosaurus'' and possibly ''Tapuiasaurus'', each ...

and Saltasauridae within the group, though they had Aeolosaurini within Colossosauria. The informal cladogram of titanosaur relationships they proposed is shown below.

References

{{reflist Lithostrotians Late Cretaceous dinosaurs