Titanosaurus
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Titanosaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 70 Ma |
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| Titanosaurus indicus holotypic distal caudal vertebra | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Neosauropoda |
| Clade: | †Macronaria |
| Clade: | †Titanosauria |
| Superfamily: | †Titanosauroidea |
| Family: | †Titanosauridae |
| Subfamily: | †Titanosaurinae |
| Genus: |
†Titanosaurus Lydekker, 1877 |
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Titanosaurus (meaning 'titanic lizard' - named after the mythological 'Titans', deities of Ancient Greece) is a dubious genus of sauropod dinosaurs, first described by Lydekker in 1877. It is known from the Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) Lameta Formation of India.
Titanosaurus is estimated to have grown up to 9–12 metres (30–40 ft) long and up to approximately 13 tons in weight. Wilson and Upchurch (2003) treated Titanosaurus as a nomen dubium ("dubious name") because they noted that the original Titanosaurus specimens cannot be distinguished from those of related animals.
As the type genus of Titanosauria, Titanosaurus at times became a wastebasket genus for a number of titanosaurs, including those not just from India but also southern Europe, Laos, and South America. Only two among these, however, are currently considered species of Titanosaurus: T. indicus and T. blandfordi, both of which are considered nomina dubia.
Other species formerly referred to this genus include:
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