| Diamantinasaurians | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Skull ofSarmientosaurus | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Macronaria |
| Clade: | †Somphospondyli |
| Clade: | †Diamantinasauria Poropat et al.,2021 |
| Type species | |
| †Diamantinasaurus matildae | |
| Genera | |
Diamantinasauria is an extinctclade ofsomphospondylantitanosauriformsauropod dinosaurs with close affinities to theTitanosauria, known from the earlyLate Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Turonian) of South America and Australia. It was named by Poropat and colleagues in 2021, and contains four (or five, depending on the placement ofWintonotitan) genera:Australotitan,Savannasaurus andDiamantinasaurus from theWinton Formation of Queensland, as well asSarmientosaurus from theBajo Barreal Formation of Patagonia. The existence of the clade indicates connectivity between Australia and South America via Antarctica during theCretaceous period.[1]
Though Diamantinasauria has been recovered consistently as amonophyletic clade, its placement within Titanosauria has fluctuated, meaning that while it appears to be relatively stable as a clade, its content and definition may change with further analysis and study.[2]
In their 2024 description of the basal titanosaurGandititan, Han et al. recovered the Diamantinasauria as thesister taxon to the Titanosauria, rather than within it.[3] Later that year, Beeston et al. published a review of the sauropod fossil material found in the Winton Formation and described additional new material. They suggested thatAustralotitan may represent ajunior synonym of the contemporaryDiamantinasaurus, and recoveredWintonotitan within the Diamantinasauria for the first time. Theirphylogenetic analyses also placed the Diamantinasauria as the sister taxon to the Titanosauria within theSomphospondyli. Their results are displayed in thecladogram below:[4]
| Somphospondyli |
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