Xinjiangtitan Temporal range: Middle Jurassic |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Order: | Saurischia |
Suborder: | †Sauropodomorpha |
Family: | †Mamenchisauridae |
Genus: |
†Xinjiangtitan Wu et al., 2013 |
Type species | |
†Xinjiangtitan shanshanesis Wu et al., 2013 |
Xinjiangtitan is an extinct genus of mamenchisaurid sauropod known from the Middle Jurassic Qigu Formation in Piqan County of Xinjiang, northwestern China. Estimates of body length for the holotype are approximately 30–32 m (98–105 ft) in length, making Xinjiangtitan one of the longest sauropods known.
Xinjiangtitan was first described and named by Wu Wen-hao, Zhou Chang-fu, Oliver Wings, Toru Sekiha and Dong Zhiming in 2013 and the type species is Xinjiangtitan shanshanesis. The generic name is derived from Xinjiang where the bones were discovered in 2012, and from titan, giant in Greek mythology. The specific name, shanshanesis, is derived from an alternative name for the county where it was found, Shanshan, named after the ancient Shanshan Kingdom. The specific name is occasionally misspelled as "shanshanensis" or "shashaensis", which are invalid spellings even though the correct form would indeed have been "shanshanensis" rather than shanshanesis, as the Latin suffix "-ensis" meaning "from", was used to create the name. Xinjiangtitan is known solely from the holotype SSV12001, a partial but, apart from some erosion, well preserved in situ postcranial skeleton including the first two caudal vertebrae, the last two cervical vertebrae, and all dorsal (12) and sacral vertebrae (5), as well as several cervical, dorsal and sacral ribs, a partial left leg (including the femur, tibia, fibula and a metatarsal), left and right pubic bones and right ischium.