Lithostrotians Temporal range: Early to Late Cretaceous, 120–66 Ma |
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Life restorations of a pair of Saltasaurus | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Order: | Saurischia |
Suborder: | †Sauropodomorpha |
Clade: | †Neosauropoda |
Clade: | †Macronaria |
Clade: | †Titanosauria |
Clade: |
†Lithostrotia Upchurch et al., 2004 |
Subgroups | |
Malawisaurus |
Malawisaurus
Rukwatitan
Austroposeidon
Diamantinasaurus
Xianshanosaurus
Dreadnoughtus
Elaltitan
Narambuenatitan
Sonidosaurus
Isisaurus
Antarctosaurus
Sarmientosaurus
Lognkosauria
Aeolosauridae
Nemegtosauridae
Saltasauridae
Lithostrotia is a clade of derived titanosaur sauropods that lived during the Early Cretaceous and Late Cretaceous. The group was defined by Unchurch et al. in 2004 as the most recent common ancestor of Malawisaurus and Saltasaurus and all the descendants of that ancestor. Lithostrotia is derived from the Ancient Greek lithostros, meaning "inlaid with stones", referring to the fact that many known lithostrotians are preserved with osteoderms. However, osteoderms are not a distinguishing feature of the group, as the two noted by Unchurch et al. include caudal vertebrae with strongly concave front faces (procoely), although the farthest vertebrae are not procoelous.