Wintonotitan
| Wintonotitan | ||||||||||||
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Live reconstruction of Wintonotitan wattsi . From Hocknull and colleagues, 2009. |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Lower Cretaceous (Upper Albium ) | ||||||||||||
| 107.5 to 100.5 million years | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Wintonotitan | ||||||||||||
| Hocknull et al. , 2009 | ||||||||||||
| Art | ||||||||||||
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Wintonotitan is a genus of sauropod dinosaur and an original representative of the Titanosauriformes from the Lower Cretaceous Australia . This genus wasscientifically described for the first timein 2009 with the only species, Wintonotitan wattsi . Wintonotitan is known for its skull-less, fragmentary skeleton, which consists of the bones of the forelegs, the shoulder girdle, some vertebrae, fragmentary pelvic bones and parts of the caudal spine. Parts of this skeleton were discovered in 1974 and provisionally described as a species of Austrosaurus . Other bones of this skeleton were only uncovered during excavations between 2006 and 2009.
The Titanosauriformes are a group of sauropods mainly living in the Cretaceous period, which include Brachiosaurus and related species (also known as Brachiosauridae ) as well as the Titanosauria , which include Saltasaurus , Opisthocoelicaudia and Argentinosaurus . Some commonly derived features ( synapomorphies ) suggest that Wintonotitan could actually be a Titanosauria.
features
Wintonotitan can be estimated to be about 16 meters long. This genus can be distinguished from other genera by a unique combination of features: For example, the vortices showed air-filled (pneumatic) chambers in their upper third. Wintonotitan had a total of about 35 caudal vertebrae. While the anterior and middle caudal vertebrae were flat at both ends (amphipathic), the posterior caudal vertebrae were cylindrical and convex at both ends - the latter feature is believed to be unique to this genus ( autapomorphy ). The foreleg was graceful overall, the humerus had split lower articular knots .
Various features allow a classification within the Titanosauriformes. For example, the vertebrae showed a complex, spongy internal structure made up of numerous chambers. The ilium (ilium) showed in the anterior (pre-acetabular) half an enlarged and upwardly directed club-like ridge, which resulted in the iliac bone showing its highest point in the anterior half, and not immediately above the joint socket ( acetabulum ), as in more primal sauropods. The anterior (anterior) process on the underside of the iliac bone ( pubic peduncle ) stood perpendicular to the axis of the sacrum (sacrum).
Some characteristics are jointly derived characteristics ( synapomorphies ) of the Titanosauria, which could mean that Wintonotitan can be assigned to this group. The vertebrae showed eye-shaped lateral cavities (pleurocoels). Furthermore, the ulna showed a pronounced olecranon - a bone spur at the upper end that extends over the articular surface of the ulna. In addition, it was ischial (ischium) plate-like.
Research history and naming
The skeleton was discovered by Keith Watts back in 1974. The location (QML 313 "Triangle Paddock") is about 60 km northwest of the city of Winton in Queensland. Stratigraphically , the site belongs to the lower Winton Formation . Additional bones of the same skeleton were recovered from excavations at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History and the Queensland Museum between 2006 and 2009 . The same excavation team found the remains of a new titanosaur, Diamantinasaurus , and a new allosauroid theropod , Australovenator, in another site of the Winton Formation, the "Matilda site" . Originally the skeleton was described as a new species of the genus Austrosaurus ( Austrosaurus sp. ), The only known Cretaceous sauropod from Australia at the time. Austrosaurus (or the holotype material of the type species Austrosaurus mckillopi ) is based only on about eight very heavily weathered vertebrae, which reveal only a few helpful features for the classification, which is why this genus is used by Hocknull and colleagues (2009) as the noun dubium (dubious name) to be led. Only a single bone of the Wintonotitan skeleton - a fragmentary vertebral center - overlaps with the Austrosaurus type material . Nevertheless, there are clear differences between these two bones, so in Wintonotitan the lateral hollow is eye-shaped and much larger than in Austrosaurus , which confirms that both finds belonged to different genera.
The skeleton ( holotype , copy number QMF 7292) consists of the scapula, arm bones, metacarpal bones, fragmentary dorsal and sacral vertebrae, ribs, parts of the iliac bone, ischium and parts of the caudal spine. Another find (copy number QMF 10916) was also assigned to this genus and consists of isolated middle and rear caudal vertebrae.
Wintonotitan is named after the city of Winton in Queensland, the ending titan refers to the titans of Greek mythology . The epithet wattsi honors Keith Watts, who discovered the first bones of the skeleton in 1974 and donated them to the Queensland Museum.
literature
- Scott A. Hocknull, Matt A. White, Travis R. Tischler, Alex G. Cook, Naomi D. Calleja, Trish Sloan, David A. Elliott: New mid-Cretaceous (latest Albian) dinosaurs from Winton, Queensland, Australia. In: PLoS ONE . Vol. 4, No. 7, 2009, e6190, doi : 10.1371 / journal.pone.0006190 .
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. 199, online .
- ^ Scientists Find Dinosaur That Lived 98M Years Ago in Australia . In: Associated Press . Fox News. July 3, 2009. Archived from the original on September 4, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 22, 2010.
Web links
- Wintonotitan in the Paleobiology Database.