Titanosaurs (members of the group Titanosauria) were a diverse group of sauropod dinosaurs which included Saltasaurus and Isisaurus.
The titanosaurs were the last surviving group of long-necked sauropods, with taxa still thriving at the time of the extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous.
The group includes the largest land animals known to have existed, such as Patagotitanestimated at 121 ft long[1] with a weight of 76 tons[2]and the comparably sized Argentinosaurus and Puertasaurus from the same region.
The groups name alludes to the mythological Titans of Ancient Greece, via the type genus (now considered a nomen dubium) Titanosaurus. Together with the brachiosaurids and relatives, titanosaurs make up the larger clade Titanosauriformes.
Titanosaurs had small heads, even when compared with other sauropods. The head was also wide, similar to the heads of Camarasaurus and Brachiosaurus but more elongated.
Their nostrils were large (macronarian) and they all had crests formed by these nasal bones. Their teeth were either somewhat spatulate (spoon-like) or like pegs or pencils, but were always very small.
Their necks were of average length, for sauropods, and their tails were whip-like, but not as long as in the diplodocids.
While the pelvis (hip area) was slimmer than some sauropods, the pectoral (chest area) was much wider, giving them a uniquely wide-gauged stance.
As a result, the fossilised trackways of titanosaurs are distinctly broader than other sauropods. Their forelimbs were also stocky, and often longer than their hind limbs.
Their vertebrae (back bones) were solid (not hollowed-out), which may be a throwback to more basal saurischians. Their spinal column was more flexible, so they were probably more agile than their cousins and better at rearing up.
Unlike other sauropods, some titanosaurs had no digits or digit bones, and walked only on horseshoe-shaped stumps made up of the columnar metacarpal bones.[3][4]
From skin impressions found with the fossils, it has been determined that the skin of many titanosaur species was armored with a small mosaic of small, bead-like scales around a larger scale.[5]
One species, Saltasaurus, has even been discovered with bony plates, like the ankylosaurs. Studies published in 2011 also indicate that titanosaurs such as Rapetosaurus (on which the examinations were performed), may have used the osteoderms common in the various genera for storing minerals during harsh changes in climate, such as drought.[6][7]
While they were all huge, many were fairly average in size compared with the other giant dinosaurs. There were even some island-dwelling dwarf species such as Magyarosaurus, probably the result of allopatric speciation and insular dwarfism.
Classification
The family Titanosauridae was once used for derived titanosaurs, but Wilson and Upchurch (2003) found the type genus Titanosaurus dubious based on the figures and original description.[8]
Weishampel et al., in the second edition of The Dinosauria, also did not use the family Titanosauridae, and instead used several smaller titanosaur families such as Saltasauridae and Nemegtosauridae, coining Lithostrotia for derived titanosaurs.[9]
A handful of Argentine sauropod workers, however, continue to use Titanosauridae for titanosaurs now placed in Lithostrotia.[10][11]
Phylogeny
In the second edition of The Dinosauria, the clade Titanosauria was defined as all sauropods closer to Saltasaurus than to Brachiosaurus.[9] Subsequent cladistic analyses have defined Titanosauria as including Saltasaurus but not Euhelopus or Brachiosaurus.[12][13]
Relationships within the Titanosauria have historically been extremely variable from study to study, complicated by the fact that clade and rank names have been applied inconsistently by various scientists.
One possible cladogram is presented here, and follows a 2007 analysis by Calvo and colleagues. The authors notably used the family Titanosauridae in a broader fashion than other recent studies, and coined the new clade name Lognkosauria.[14]
BrontoskiSaurus
*ping*
Based on the findings in other dinosaur bones, these bones should be checked for presence of red blood cells and other soft tissue.
ping
Either they should name it the Putinosaurus, or at least use Jurassic Park technologies to regenerate it’s dna into a frog’s egg, grow the baby up to adult size, and get a picture of it galloping with a shirtless Putin riding on it’s back!
Maybe it’s me but from the way the head line is written it sounds like the thing is strolling along the Volga.
Was it involved in the last election?
Communism?
It walked the earth from 200 million to 65 million years ago (most long-lived animal ever) but has been stuck in a cliff for 130 million years? How did it manage to walk while stuck in a cliff?
Titanosaurus...
The lamest foe Godzilla ever faced.
(Terror of Mechagodzilla)