| Chadititan | |
|---|---|
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| Femora referred toChadititan | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Macronaria |
| Clade: | †Titanosauria |
| Clade: | †Rinconsauria |
| Genus: | †Chadititan Agnolín et al.,2025 |
| Species: | †C. calvoi |
| Binomial name | |
| †Chadititan calvoi Agnolín et al., 2025 | |
Chadititan (meaning "titan of the salt") is an extinctgenus oftitanosaurian dinosaurs from theLate Cretaceous (Campanian)Anacleto Formation of Argentina. The genus contains asingle species,C. calvoi, known from several fragmentary skeletons.Chadititan is characterized by its small size compared to related taxa and its particularly gracile limbs.
In 2025, Agnolín et al. reported on a diverse fossil locality in the Marín family Farm nearGeneral Roca city and the Salitral Morenolowlands in Argentina, representing outcrops of theAnacleto Formation. Among the bones discovered were abundant titanosaur remains belonging to several individual animals, includingdorsal andcaudal vertebrae, a partialpubis andcoracoid, and incomplete bones of the fore- and hindlimbs.[1]
In 2025, Agnolín et al.describedChadititan calvoi as a new genus and species of titanosaurs based on these fossil remains. They established MPCN-Pv 1034—comprising nine caudal vertebrae, the top parts of bothhumeri andulnae, the bottom part of the rightradius, the end of the left pubis, both ends of the rightfemur, the top part of the lefttibia and both ends of the right tibia andfibula, and indeterminatemetapodials—as theholotype specimen. They further referred seven additional specimens, including a possible juvenile individual, of varying levels of completeness based on their comparable anatomy and discovery location. Thegeneric name,Chadititan, combines theMapudungun wordchadi, meaning "salt"—in reference to the type locality being near a vastsalt flat—with the word "titan", referencing thepre-Olympian gods ofGreek mythology. Thespecific name,calvoi, honors Argentine paleontologistJorge O. Calvo who coined the taxonomic groupRinconsauria, to which this taxon belongs.[1][2]
Chadititan is a relatively small sauropod, with an estimated body length of 7 metres (23 ft). Although the known material is fragmentary,Chadititan shows several similarities to otherrinconsaurian sauropods. The humerus and femur ofChadititan indicate that its limbs are gracile and relatively straight. Additionally, the anteriorly concavetail vertebrae are relatively long and narrow. Noosteoderms were identified from the bonebed.[1]
In theirphylogenetic analyses, Agnolín et al. (2025) recoveredChadititan as a member of theRinconsauria. Their results are displayed in thecladogram below:[1]
