| Daxiatitan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Mounted skeleton cast | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Macronaria |
| Clade: | †Titanosauria |
| Genus: | †Daxiatitan Youet al., 2008 |
| Species: | †D. binglingi |
| Binomial name | |
| †Daxiatitan binglingi Youet al., 2008 | |
Daxiatitan[a] is agenus ofsauropoddinosaur known from theLower Cretaceous ofGansu, China. Its type and only species isDaxiatitan binglingi.[b] It is known from a single partial skeleton consisting of most of the neck and back vertebrae, two tail vertebrae, ashoulder blade, and athigh bone. At the time of its discovery in 2008,Daxiatitan was regarded as potentially the largest known dinosaur from China.[1]
Daxiatitan and itstype and only speciesDaxiatitan binglingi were named by You Hailu, Li Daqing, Zhou Lingqi, and Ji Qiang in 2008. Theholotype ofD. binglingi, GSLTZP03-001, was collected from theHekou Group, inGansu Province, and consists of ten cervical, ten dorsal, and two caudal vertebrae, cervical and dorsal ribs, a haemal arch, a scapulocoracoid, and a femur.[1]
The genus name refers to theDaxia River, a tributary of theYellow River that runs through the area where the type specimen was found, and the species name refers toBingling Temple, which is located in the region.[1]
Daxiatitan was initially described as a basaltitanosaur,[1] and most subsequent studies have regarded it as a basal titanosaur or as a somphospondylan close to Titanosauria inEuhelopodidae. In 2020, a phylogenetic analysis conducted by Moore et al. found thatDaxiatitan andEuhelopus may form a clade withmamenchisaurids.[2]
Daxiatitan was an exceptionally large dinosaur, among the largest known from China.[1] Its length has been estimated as 23–30 meters (75–98 ft),[c] and its mass has been estimated as 23 tonnes.[4] The neck ofDaxiatitan is estimated to have been approximately 12 metres (39 ft) long,[d] making it among the longer-necked sauropods, although still surpassed by the 15-meter neck of some of the largest mamenchisaurids anddiplodocids.[5]
