Australotitan

Name: Australotitan ‭(‬Southern titan‭).
Phonetic: Oss-trah-lo-tie-tan.
Named By: Scott A.‭ ‬Hocknull​1‭ & ‬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.‭ ‬Hocknull​1‭ & ‬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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