Australotitan
Name:
Australotitan
(Southern titan).
Phonetic: Oss-trah-lo-tie-tan.
Named By: Scott A. Hocknull1 & Melville
Wilkinson, Rochelle A. Lawrence, Vladislav Konstantinov, Stuart
Mackenzie, Robyn Mackenzie - 2021.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Sauropoda, Titanosauria, Diamantinasauria.
Species: A. cooperensis
(type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Femur of holotype individual 2.146 meters
long. Full size particularly body length uncertain due to lack of
other known body parts.
Known locations: Australia, Queensland -
Winton Formation.
Time period: Cenomanian/Turonian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial post cranial remains
including partial hips, scapula and limb bones.
At
the time of its description, Australotitan is
thought to possibly
represent the largest dinosaur known from the Australian
continent.
However, Australotitan has only been described
from partial limb and
hip bones, and while the femur of Australotitan
suggests that this
dinosaur was comparable to other titanosaurian
dinosaurs such a
Dreadnoughtus
and Futalognkosaurus
in terms of size, full body length
for Australotitan remains a big question with no
certain answer.
The
first fossils of Australotitan were recovered from
the Winton
Formation, one of the most prominent fossil bearing locations in
Australia. Another titanosaurian dinosaur named Diamantinasaurus
from
the same formation has been considered to be a close relative of
Australotitan.
Further reading
- A new giant sauropod, Australotitan cooperensis
gen. et sp.
nov., from the mid-Cretaceous of Australia. - PeerJ. 9:
e11317. - Scott A. Hocknull1 & Melville Wilkinson,
Rochelle A. Lawrence, Vladislav Konstantinov, Stuart Mackenzie,
Robyn Mackenzie - 2021.
- Second specimen of the Late Cretaceous Australian sauropod dinosaur
Diamantinasaurus matildae provides new anatomical
information on the
skull and neck of early titanosaurs. - Zoological Journal of the
Linnean Society: zlaa173. - Stephen F Poropat, Martin Kundr�t,
Philip D Mannion, Paul Upchurch, Travis R Tischler, David A
Elliott - 2021.
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