Tyrannotitan
Tyrannotitan | ||||||||||||
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Skeletal reconstruction of a tyrannotitan |
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Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
Lower Cretaceous ( Aptium ) | ||||||||||||
126.3 to 112.9 million years | ||||||||||||
Locations | ||||||||||||
Systematics | ||||||||||||
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Scientific name | ||||||||||||
Tyrannotitan | ||||||||||||
Novas et al. , 2005 | ||||||||||||
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Tyrannotitan is a genus of theropod dinosaurs that belongs to the Carcharodontosauridae . The fossil remains of the animal were discovered in Patagonia ( Argentina ) and are dated to the Aptian of the Lower Cretaceous .
Tyrannotitanium was scientifically described in 2005 by Novas, de Valais, Vickers-Rich, and Rich . The name is made up of the Greek terms "tyrannos" (king, tyrant, despot) and "titan" (giant) and indicates the enormous size of the animal. The specific epithet of the only species, the type T. chubutensis , is named after the place where it was found and means "from the Chubut region ".
The bones of two individuals are known that were discovered in the sedimentary rocks of the Cerro Barcino Formation in Argentina. The fossil material is kept in the Museo Paleontlógico Egidio Feruglio (MPEF) in Trelew , Argentina.
- The type material ( holotype MPEF-PV 1156) consists of lower jaw bones, isolated teeth, some back and tail vertebrae, humerus , pelvis and foot bones as well as arm bones.
- The second find ( paratype MPEF-PV 1157) consists of comparable fossil material.
Compared to its close relatives Carcharodontosaurus and Giganotosaurus , Tyrannotitan was more primitive. The thigh bone was only slightly shorter with 140 cm length than that of Giganotosaurus with 143 cm. Overall, however , Tyrannotitan was built to be more robust. With an estimated total length of 12.2 m, it was one of the largest carnivorous ( meat-eating ) land animals in the history of the earth.
literature
- Fernando E. Novas , Silvina de Valais, Pat Vickers-Rich , Tom Rich : A large Cretaceous theropod from Patagonia, Argentina, and the evolution of carcharodontosaurids. In: The natural sciences . Vol. 92, No. 5, 2005, pp. 226-230, doi : 10.1007 / s00114-005-0623-3 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Gregory S. Paul : The Princeton Field Guide To Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ et al. 2010, ISBN 978-0-691-13720-9 , p. 98, online .