| Europatitan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Skeletal diagram ofE. eastwoodi | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Macronaria |
| Clade: | †Titanosauriformes |
| Genus: | †Europatitan Fernández-Baldoret al, 2017 |
| Type species | |
| †Europatitan eastwoodi Fernández-Baldoret al, 2017 | |
Europatitan is anextinct genus ofsomphospondylansauropod from theEarly CretaceousCastrillo de la Reina Formation ofIberia, known from a relatively complete specimen discovered in the early 2000s. It contains a single species: thetype species,Europatitan eastwoodi.[1]
Sauropod remains were first found at a locality called El Oterillo II, which is part of theCastrillo de la Reina Formation in the province ofBurgos inSpain in 2003. These remains would be excavated between 2004-2006. The fossils, although not initially described, we reported as those of atitanosauriform in 2009. They were given the designations MDS-OTII.1 to NDS-OTII.32 and have been stored at the Dinosaur Museum ofSalas de los Infantes.[1]
Finally, in 2017, the specimen received a full description by the authors Fidel Torcida Fernández-Baldor, José Ignacio Canudo, Pedro Huerta, Miguel Moreno-Azanza, and Diego Montero. All of the sauropod bones discovered at EL Oterillo II are believed to belong to a single individual and consist of numerousvertebrae and parts of thepectoral andpelvic girdles. The specimen was made theholotype of the new taxonEuropatitan eastwoodi. Thegenus name roughly means "European giant (ortitan)" and thespecies epithet is named in honor of actor and directorClint Eastwood, whose filmThe Good, the Bad and the Ugly was shot near Salas de los Infantes.[1]
Europatitan was a relatively largesauropod. In their description of its remains, Fernández-Baldor and colleagues did not give an estimate of its full size beyond remarking that it was "a large sauropod" and noting that it was larger than the contemporaneousDemandasaurus.[1]Gregory S. Paul estimated its total size at 20 m (66 ft) long and weighing 25 tons.[2] Rubén Molina-Pérez and Asier Larramendi gave a similar estimate of about 21.4 m (70 ft) long, 5 m (16 ft) tall at the shoulder, and 22 tons.[3]
The type series, representing the only known individual ofEuropatitan, consists mostly of elements of theaxial skeleton, with a few appendicular elements. Fernández-Baldor and colleagues listed the following elements as belonging to the holotype: fivecervical vertebrae, onedorsal vertebra, ninecaudal vertebrae, 11cervical ribs, five dorsalribs, sevenchevrons, bothscapulae, the leftcoracoid, two leftmetacarpals, bothpubis bones, bothiscia, and a single tooth.
Fernández-Baldor and colleagues were able to identify thatEuropatitan possessed a number of bothautapomorphies (unique traits) andsynapomorphies (unique combinations of traits). The autapomorphies include: a crest on the front surface of the dorsal ribs, two rugose surfaces on the deltoid crest of the scapula, triradiatelaminae on theparapophysis of the cervical vertebrae, and numerous other features of the vertebrae. Synapomorphies ofEuropatitan include: a mostly flat underside of the cervicalcentra,pleurocoels of the cervical vertebrae that are relatively small, compressed dorsal centra,procoelous caudal vertebrae, a well-developedacromion process, a long canal on the chevrons, and a few other traits of the shoulder and hip bones.[1]
In their description ofEuropatitan, Fernández-Baldor and colleagues conducted aphylogenetic analysis using the dataset of Carballido and colleagues. This dataset was developed primarily to test the relationships of titanosauriformmacronarians and included 75 taxa coded for 370 characters. Fernández-Baldor and colleagues also developed a modified dataset in an attempt to determine if the clade "Laurasiformes" (named a few years prior) was a truemonophyleticclade.[1]
The describers also performed analyses to determine ifEuropatitan formed a clade with the contemporaneous and closely related taxonTastavinsaurus or the slightly older taxonLusotitan. For the first analysis, they removed the most fragmentary taxa and presented the strict consensus tree with no additional constraints. The next two trees they provide constrainEuropatitan to form a clade with eitherTastavinsaurus orLusotitan. Their results using both datasets did not give firm support for any of the three hypotheses to the exclusion of the others, which the authors attribute to the fragmentary nature of manyEarly Cretaceous titanosauriform taxa. Abbreviated versions of the cladograms they presented are shown below.[1]
Subsequent analyses have found wildly varying results for the classification ofEuropatitan. It is generally agreed to be a member of Titanosauriformes, and is sometimes considered to be a member ofSomphospondyli. The exact phylogenetic affinities ofEuropatitan, like many other titanosauriform sauropods, remains largely unresolved.[4] However, a close relationship toTastavinsaurus has been corroborated by other analyses.[5]
