Biology:Jiangxititan

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Short description: Genus of somphospondylan sauropod dinosaurs

Jiangxititan
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian
Jiangxititan.png
Life restoration as a titanosaur
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Sauropodomorpha
Clade: Sauropoda
Clade: Macronaria
Clade: Somphospondyli
Genus: Jiangxititan
Mo et al., 2023
Species:
J. ganzhouensis
Binomial name
Jiangxititan ganzhouensis
Mo et al., 2023

Jiangxititan is an extinct genus of somphospondylan titanosauriform dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Nanxiong Formation of China. The genus contains a single 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.

Discovery and naming

The Jiangxititan holotype specimen, NHMG 034062, was discovered in sediments of the Nanxiong Formation near Tankou Town in Ganzhou City of Jiangxi Province, southern China. The specimen consists of the three posteriormost cervical vertebrae with two cervical ribs, articulated with the first four dorsal vertebrae with three dorsal ribs.[1]

In 2023, Mo et al. described Jiangxititan ganzhouensis as a new genus and species of macronarian sauropod based on these fossil remains. The generic name, "Jiangxititan", combines a reference to the type locality in Jiangxi Province with the word "titan", a common suffix for giant sauropod names, referencing the pre-Olympian gods of Greek mythology. The specific name, "ganzhouensis", references the discovery of the fossil in Ganzhou City.[1]

Classification

Mo et al. (2023) recovered Jiangxititan as a derived member of the titanosaurian clade Lognkosauria, as the sister taxon to Mongolosaurus. The results of their phylogenetic analyses are shown in the cladogram below:[1]

Titanosauria

Diamantinasauria

Xianshanosaurus

Daxiatitan

Australodocus

Lithostrotia

Malawisaurus

Aeolosaurus

Rapetosaurus

Isisaurus

Saltasaurus

Opisthocoelicaudia

Alamosaurus

Epachthosaurus

Pitekunsaurus

Tapuiasaurus

Antarctosaurus

Vahiny

Jainosaurus

Normanniasaurus

Rinconsaurus

Muyelensaurus

Nemegtosaurus

Lognkosauria

Mendozasaurus

Argentinosaurus

Futalognkosaurus

Patagotitan

Notocolossus

Puertasaurus

Jiangxititan

Mongolosaurus

A subsequent analysis by Han and colleagues in 2024 recovered Jiangxititan as a non-titanosaurian somphospondylan, in a polytomy with several other basal somphospondylans. Removing Jiangxititan as an unstable operational taxonomic unit in their analyses allowed for increased resolution, with more taxa recovered in the Euhelopodidae. The reduced consensus tree from their phylogenetic analyses is shown in the cladogram below:[2]

Titanosauriformes

Brachiosauridae

Somphospondyli

Astrophocaudia

Brontomerus

Malarguesaurus

Paluxysaurus

Angolatitan

Chubutisaurus

Cloverly titanosauriform

Fukuititan

Gobititan

Jiangxititan

Ruixinia

Jiangshanosaurus

Europatitan

Tastavinsaurus

Ligabuesaurus

Dongbeititan

Tangvayosaurus

Phuwiangosaurus

Qiaowanlong

Yongjinglong

Euhelopus

Huanghetitan spp.

Diamantinasauria

Titanosauria


References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Mo, Jin-You; Fu, Qiong-Yao; Yu, Yi-Lun; Xu, Xing (2023-09-21). "A New Titanosaurian Sauropod from the Upper Cretaceous of Jiangxi Province, Southern China" (in en). Historical Biology: 1–15. doi:10.1080/08912963.2023.2259413. ISSN 0891-2963. 
  2. Han, Fenglu; Yang, Ling; Lou, Fasheng; Sullivan, Corwin; Xu, Xing; Qiu, Wenjiang; Liu, Hanfeng; Yu, Juan et al. (2024-01-17). "A new titanosaurian sauropod, Gandititan cavocaudatus gen. et sp. nov., from the Late Cretaceous of southern China". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 22 (1). doi:10.1080/14772019.2023.2293038. 

Wikidata ☰ Q122752684 entry