| Jiangxititan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Life restoration as a titanosaur | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Macronaria |
| Clade: | †Somphospondyli |
| Genus: | †Jiangxititan Moet al.,2023 |
| Species: | †J. ganzhouensis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Jiangxititan ganzhouensis Moet al., 2023 | |
Jiangxititan is anextinct genus ofsomphospondylantitanosauriform dinosaur from theLate CretaceousNanxiong Formation of China. The genus contains asingle species,J. ganzhouensis, known from several articulated vertebrae with ribs. Originally described as a titanosaur,Jiangxititan was later suggested to be a non-titanosaurian somphospondylan.
TheJiangxititanholotype specimen, NHMG 034062, was discovered in sediments of theNanxiong Formation nearTankou Town inGanzhou City ofJiangxi Province, southern China. The specimen consists of the three posteriormostcervical vertebrae with twocervical ribs,articulated with the first fourdorsal vertebrae with three dorsalribs.[1]
In 2023, Moet al.describedJiangxititan ganzhouensis as a new genus and species of macronarian sauropod based on these fossil remains. Thegeneric name, "Jiangxititan", combines a reference to thetype locality in Jiangxi Province with the word "titan", a common suffix for giant sauropod names, referencing thepre-Olympian gods ofGreek mythology. Thespecific name, "ganzhouensis", references the discovery of the fossil in Ganzhou City.[1]
Moet al. (2023) recoveredJiangxititan as a derived member of the titanosaurian cladeLognkosauria, as thesister taxon toMongolosaurus. The results of theirphylogenetic analyses are shown in the cladogram below:[1]
A subsequent analysis by Han and colleagues in 2024 recoveredJiangxititan as a non-titanosaurian somphospondylan, in apolytomy with several other basal somphospondylans. RemovingJiangxititan as an unstableoperational taxonomic unit in their analyses allowed for increased resolution, with more taxa recovered in theEuhelopodidae. The reduced consensus tree from their phylogenetic analyses is shown in the cladogram below:[2]
