| Kaijutitan | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Macronaria |
| Clade: | †Titanosauria |
| Genus: | †Kaijutitan Filippi, Salgado & Garrido,2019 |
| Type species | |
| †Kaijutitan maui Filippi, Salgado & Garrido, 2019 | |
Kaijutitan (meaning "Kaiju titan" after the type of Japanese movie monsters) is a genus of basaltitanosaurdinosaur from theSierra Barrosa Formation fromNeuquén Province inArgentina. Thetype and only species isKaijutitan maui.[1]
Kaijutitan was discovered by a team of researchers from the Museo Municipal Argentino Urquiza and the Museo Provincial de Ciencias Naturales “Prof. Dr. Juan Olsacher" from a layer from the Sierra Barrosa Formation, in Cañadón Mistringa, about 9 km southwest of the city ofRincón de los Sauces, inNeuquen,Argentina.
Kaijutitan is known from the holotypeMAU-Pv-CM-522, stored at the Museo Municipal Argentino Urquiza, Paleontología de Vertebrados, Cañadón Mistringa, which is a partial skeleton preserving elements from several parts of the skeleton.
It can be distinguished from other titanosaurians through the possession of unique traits: the width between the basal tuberosities is almost four times the width of the foramen magnum; the foramen for theinternal carotid artery is located on the back of thebasipterygoid, almost at the middle of the distance between the basipterygoid and the basal tuberosities; the anterior cervical vertebrae have bifidneural spines; a medial tuber located behind both metapophyses on both cervical vertebrae; aspinopostzygapophyseal lamina bifurcated in the spinal sector, generating elongated deep pneumatic cavities on anterior cervical vertebrae; a posteroventral keel on the anterior cervical vertebrae, generated from the convergence of two ridges that originate from the bottom edge of the parapophysis; an accessory lamina that runs frompostzygadiapophyseal lamina up to thespinoprezygapophyseal lamina in cervical vertebra; absence of proximal pneumatopores in dorsalribs; the prespinal lamina is triangular, which is a product of a dorsal expansion in anterior caudal vertebra; the absence of a ventromedial process in the bottom of thescapula; thetibial proximal condyle is narrow, with its long axis anteroposteriorly oriented; the tibial cnemial crest projects forward; and foramina at the base of the ascending process of theastragalus.[1]
To test the systematic position ofKaijutitan, a phylogenetic analysis was conducted to resolve its affinities. A simplified cladogram, showing the results of the analysis, is presented below.[1]
