| Gondwanatitan | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Holotype skeleton ofGondwanatitan | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Macronaria |
| Clade: | †Titanosauria |
| Clade: | †Lithostrotia |
| Genus: | †Gondwanatitan Kellner & de Azevedo,1999 |
| Species: | †G. faustoi |
| Binomial name | |
| †Gondwanatitan faustoi Kellner & de Azevedo, 1999 | |
Gondwanatitan (meaning "giant fromGondwana") was atitanosauriansauropoddinosaur.Gondwanatitan was found inBrazil, at the time part of the southern supercontinentGondwana, in the lateCretaceousPeriod (70mya). Like some other sauropods,Gondwanatitan was tall and ate tough shoots and leaves from the tops of trees. Its closest relative wasAeolosaurus. Thetype species isGondwanatitan faustoi, formally described by Kellner and de Azevedo in1999.
Gondwanatitan means "Gondwana Titan", and is named afterGondwana, the supercontinent that the genus' South American range was once part of, and the Titans of classical Greek mythology. The type and only named species,G. faustoi, is a patronym honoring Dr. Fausto L. de Souza Cunha, a former curator at the Museu Nacional/UFRJ who led the excavation of the type specimen.[1]
Gondwanatitan was a fairly small sauropod, only 7 meters (23 ft) long and weighing about 1 tonne (1.1 short tons).[2] It had relatively gracile limb bones.[1] The middle caudal vertebrae are distinctively "heart-shaped", which allows isolated caudal vertebrae to be easily distinguished from those ofAeolosaurus.[3]
The vertebrae from the middle part of its tail had elongatedcentra.[4]Gondwanatitan had vertebral lateral fossae that resembled shallow depressions.[4] Fossae that similarly resemble shallow depressions are known fromSaltasaurus,Alamosaurus,Malawisaurus, andAeolosaurus.[4] Its middle tail vertebrae'sneural spines are angled anteriorly when the vertebrae are aligned.[4] These vertebrae resemble those ofCedarosaurus,Venenosaurus, andAeolosaurus.[4]
Gondwanatitan is a member of the cladeAeolosauridae.[5] It is closely related to the generaPitekunsaurus,Aeolosaurus, andOverosaurus.[6]
The type specimen ofGondwanatitan faustoi was found in strata of theAdamantina Formation.[1] Other material assigned to the genus has been found in theCambabe Formation.[5]
The type specimen ofGondwanatitan faustoi was discovered in 1983 on the farm of Yoshitoshi Myzobuchi inSão Paulo,Brazil.[1] The specimen was excavated between 1984 and 1986, but preparation work on the specimen did not begin in earnest until 1997. It was finally described as a new genus and species in 1999. In 2001,G. faustoi was briefly transferred to the genusAeolosaurus, makingGondwanatitan a junior synonym of that genus, but it has since been widely regarded as separate.[7][8] Some elements of the holotype were lost in theNational Museum of Brazil fire on 2 September 2018, but several elements survived the fire and were recovered.[9]
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