Titanosaurs 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 thriving at the time of the extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous. This group includes some of the largest land animals known to have ever existed, such as Patagotitan, estimated at 37 m (121 ft) long with a weight of 69 tonnes, and the comparably-sized Argentinosaurus and Puertasaurus from the same region.
Nemegtosauridae is a family of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaurs based on their diplodocid-like skulls. Only three species are known: Nemegtosaurus, Quaesitosaurus and possibly Tapuiasaurus, each from the Cretaceous.
Pellegrinisaurus is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur that lived in South America during the Late Cretaceous period. The holotype was found in the Allen Formation, Argentina.
Lithostrotia is a clade of derived titanosaur sauropods that lived during the Early Cretaceous and Late Cretaceous. The group was defined by Upchurch et al. in 2004 as the most recent common ancestor of Malawisaurus and Saltasaurus and all the descendants of that ancestor. Lithostrotia is derived from the Ancient Greek lithostros, meaning "inlaid with stones", referring to the fact that many known lithostrotians are preserved with osteoderms. However, osteoderms are not a distinguishing feature of the group, as the two noted by Unchurch et al. include caudal vertebrae with strongly concave front faces (procoely), although the farthest vertebrae are not procoelous.
Wintonotitan is a genus of titanosauriform dinosaur from Cenomanian -age Winton Formation of Australia. It is known from partial postcranial remains.
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 by Scott Hocknull and colleagues based on fossil finds in the Winton Formation. Meaning "Diamantina lizard", the name is derived from the location of the nearby Diamantina River and the Greek word sauros, "lizard". The specific epithet is from the Australian song Waltzing Matilda, also the locality of the holotype and paratype. The known skeleton includes most of the forelimb, shoulder girdle, pelvis, hindlimb and ribs of the holotype, and one shoulder bone, a radius and some vertebrae of the paratype.
Xianshanosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian) of the Ruyang Basin in Henan Province, China. Its type and only species is Xianshanosaurus shijiagouensis. It was described in 2009 by a team of paleontologists led by Lü Junchang. Xianshanosaurus may be a titanosaur, and Daxiatitan may be its closest relative, but its evolutionary relationships remain controversial.
Lognkosauria is a clade of giant long-necked sauropod dinosaurs within the clade Titanosauria. It includes some of the largest and heaviest dinosaurs known. They lived in South America and likely Asia during the Late Cretaceous period.
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, Maxakalisaurus, Panamericansaurus and Rinconsaurus to be aeolosaurids.
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 colleagues in 1999, who used it to unite the group of Argyrosaurus, Lirainosaurus, Saltasaurus and the Peiropolis titanosaur. However, this definition was not used as it made the group equivalent to Saltasauridae, so Saldago redefined it in 2003 to be all titanosaurs closer to Saltasaurus than Epachthosaurus. This definition created Eutitanosauria as the sister group to Epachthosaurinae, but was problematic due to the variable nature of Epachthosaurus. Eutitanosauria was often broadly similar to Lithostrotia, and has often been unused or unlabelled on phylogenies. Sometimes Epachthosaurus would be more primitive than Malawisaurus, making Eutitanosauria more encompassing than Lithostrotia, or Epachthosaurus could nest close to Colossosauria and limit Eutitanosauria to a smaller group of saltasauroids. Because of the flexible nature of Epachthosaurus in basal titanosaur phylogeny, Carballido and colleagues redefined the group in 2022 to include the smallest clade of both Patagotitan, a colossosaur, and Saltasaurus, creating a node-stem clade with Colossosauria and Saltasauroidea, presenting the informal cladogram of stable titanosaur clades below.
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 at least six young adult individuals, Patagotitan mayorum, which was first announced in 2014 and then named in 2017 by José Carballido and colleagues. Preliminary studies and press releases suggested that Patagotitan was the largest known titanosaur and land animal overall, with an estimated length of 37 m (121 ft) and an estimated weight of 69 tonnes. Later research revised the length estimate down to 31 m (102 ft) and weight estimates down to approximately 50–57 tonnes, suggesting that Patagotitan was of a similar size to, if not smaller than, its closest relatives Argentinosaurus and Puertasaurus. Still, Patagotitan is one of the most-known titanosaurs, and so its interrelationships with other titanosaurs have been relatively consistent in phylogenetic analyses. This led to its use in a re-definition of the group Colossosauria by Carballido and colleagues in 2022.
Savannasaurus is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Winton Formation of Queensland, Australia. It contains one species, Savannasaurus elliottorum, named in 2016 by Stephen Poropat and colleagues. The holotype and only known specimen, originally nicknamed "Wade", is the most complete specimen of an Australian sauropod, and is held at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs museum. Dinosaurs known from contemporary rocks include its close relative Diamantinasaurus and the theropod Australovenator; associated teeth suggest that Australovenator may have fed on the holotype specimen.
Triunfosaurus is a genus of somphospondylan sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil. It contains a single species, T. leonardii, described by Carvalho et al. in 2017. As a genus, Triunfosaurus can be distinguished from all other titanosaurs by the unique proportions of its ischium. It was initially described as a basal titanosaur, making it the earliest basal titanosaur known; however, subsequent research questioned the identification of the taxon as a titanosaur, instead reassigning it to the Somphospondyli.
Rinconsauria is an extinct clade of giant titanosaurian sauropods known from the late Cretaceous period of Argentina.
Colossosauria is a clade of titanosaur sauropods from the latest Early Cretaceous through the Late Cretaceous of South America. The group was originally named by Bernardo González-Riga et al. in 2019 and defined as the "most inclusive clade containing Mendozasaurus neguyelap but not Saltasaurus loricatus or Epachthosaurus sciuttoi". The clade contains different taxa depending on the phylogenetic analysis used, in the defining paper the only subgroups were Rinconsauria and Lognkosauria, but alternate phylogenies published previously had also included various similar titanosaurs such as Aeolosaurus, Bonitasaura, Drusilasaura, Overosaurus and Quetecsaurus. The phylogenetic analysis of González-Riga et al. (2019) placed Colossosauria as sister taxa to Epachthosaurus, Pitekunsaurus and a larger clade including Saltasauridae.
Abdarainurus is a genus of titanosaur dinosaur from the Alagteeg Formation in Mongolia. The type and only species is A. barsboldi. Currently seen as an indeterminate titanosaur, it may represent a previously unknown lineage of Asian macronarians. Abdarainurus is not known from many remains; it is only known from eight front tail vertebrae and a middle tail vertebra and several chevrons.
Dzharatitanis is a genus of sauropod from the Bissekty Formation in Uzbekistan, dating to the Turonian age of the Late Cretaceous. The genus contains a single species, Dzharatitanis kingi, named after geologist Christopher King, who contributed to the Cretaceous geology of Asia. It is currently one of two known sauropods from the Bissekty Formation, alongside an indeterminate titanosaur. In its original publication it was considered to be a member of Rebbachisauridae, but later papers considered it to be a titanosaur.
Australotitan is an extinct genus of possibly titanosaurian somphospondylan dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous Winton Formation (Cenomanian–Turonian) of southern-central Queensland, Australia. The genus contains a single species, A. cooperensis, known from multiple partial skeletons. The genus Australotitan may be synonymous with Diamantinasaurus, a contemporary relative.
Saltasauroidea is a superfamily of titanosaurs named by França and colleagues in 2016 based on their phylogenetic results, for a clade uniting Aeolosaurini and Saltasauridae, as well as the intermediate genera Baurutitan, Diamantinasaurus and Isisaurus. 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 than Patagotitan, encompassing half of Eutitanosauria as the sister taxon to the inversely defined Colossosauria. Carballido et al. placed Nemegtosauridae and Saltasauridae within the group, though they had Aeolosaurini within Colossosauria. The informal cladogram of titanosaur relationships they proposed is shown below.
David Anthon Elliott is an Australian palaeontologist and sheep and cattle grazier who co-founded the Australian Age of Dinosaurs in Winton, Queensland, with his wife Judy and currently serves as Executive Chairman. His significant contributions to the local, national and global communities have been far-reaching, with a profound impact on the field of palaeontology. Through the establishment and development of the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History, he has pioneered a new form of tourism known as palaeotourism, attracting new visitors to regional Australia.
