Paralititan
Name:
Paralititan
(Tidal titan).
Phonetic: Pah-ral-e-ty-tan.
Named By: Joshua B. Smith, Matthew C.
Lamanna, Kenneth J. Lacovara, Peter Dodson, Jennifer R.
Smith, Jason C. Poole, Robert Giegengack & Yousri
Attia - 2001.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Tauropoda, Titanosaura.
Species: P. stromeri (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Estimated about 26 meters long.
Known locations: Egypt - Bahariya Formation.
Time period: Cenomanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial post cranial remains.
There
is little doubt that Paralititan sits comfortably
amongst some of the
biggest sauropod
dinosaurs that are known to us. Though the skeleton
of Paralititan is largely incomplete, the
humerus (upper ‘arm’
bone) is known to have reached a length of one hundred and
sixty-nine centimetres long, something that at the time of discovery
and writing confirms Paralititan to have had the
largest known humerus
of any Cretaceous era dinosaur. In 2006 palaeontologist Kenneth
Carpenter estimated the length of Paralititan to be
about twenty-six
metres long. To date only a few other genera such as Dreadnoughtus,
Turiasaurus,
Argentinosaurus
and Amphicoelias
(and a few others)
seem capable of matching and exceeding Paralititan
in terms of
physical size and weight.
Paralititan
is known from the Bahariya Formation of Egypt which has been
interpreted as being an ecosystem centred on mangroves, as evidenced
by the types of fossil plants discovered there. Mangroves are tidal
ecosystems and this is a reflection upon the name Paralititan
which
translates to English as ‘Tidal titan’, the latter part alluding
to the large size of Paralititan. It is also
known that at times the
Bahariya Formation was reclaimed by the sea for extended periods when
global sea levels periodically rose, before re-appearing again when
sea levels dropped.
Paralititan likely shared the same habitat as another sauropod dinosaur named Aegyptosaurus, while fossils of another genus named Dicraeosaurus also seem to be present in the same area as those of Paralititan. Predatory threats may have come from large theropod dinosaurs such as Bahariasaurus, Deltadromeus and particularly Carcharodontosaurus. These dinosaurs may have chosen to steer clear of fully grown Paralititan, but smaller juveniles would have particularly been at threat. In fact theropod dinosaur teeth were found preserved with the Paralititan type specimen and these at least denote scavenging upon the carcass. The large theropod dinosaur Spinosaurus was also present in the same ecosystem as Paralititan, though as a specialist hunter of fish, Spinosaurus may have only attacked small juveniles or scavenged already dead Paralititan.
Further reading
- A Giant sauropod dinosaur from an Upper Cretaceous mangrove deposit
in Egypt. - Science 292 (5522): 1704–1706. - Joshua
B. Smith, Matthew C. Lamanna, Kenneth J. Lacovara, Peter
Dodson, Jennifer R. Smith, Jason C. Poole, Robert Giegengack
& Yousri Attia - 2001.
- Biggest of the Big: a Critical Re-evaluation of the Mega-sauropod
Amphicoelias fragillimus.- In J. R. Foster & S. G.
Lucas, eds., 2006, Paleontology and Geology of the Upper
Jurassic Morrison Formation. - New Mexico Museum of Natural History
and Science Bulletin, vol. 36: pp. 131-138. - Kenneth
Carpenter - 2005.
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