Brasilotitan

Brasilotitan; Temporal range: Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	†Sauropodomorpha
Clade:	†Sauropoda
Clade:	†Macronaria
Clade:	†Titanosauria
Clade:	†Lithostrotia
Genus:	†Brasilotitan; Machado et al., 2013
Species:	†B. nemophagus
Binomial name
	†Brasilotitan nemophagus; Machado et al., 2013

Brasilotitan (meaning "Brazil giant") is a genus of

sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (early Maastrichtian) Adamantina Formation of Brazil. The type species is Brasilotitan nemophagus. Brasilotitan was a small titanosaur with a squared-off snout, and may be closely related to another Brazilian titanosaur, Uberabatitan

.

Discovery and naming

In 2000, William R. Nava collected the partial skeleton of a sauropod along a road in São Paulo state near

Presidente Prudente city. In 2013, a team of researchers, including Nava and led by Elaine B. Machado, described the remains as a new genus and species of sauropod, Brasilotitan nemophagus. The genus name refers to its discovery in Brazil and to the Titans of Greek mythology, and the species epithet combines the Greek words némos "pasture, wood" and phagos "to eat", in reference to its herbivorous diet.^[1]

Although the phylogenetic position of Brasilotitan is difficult to establish, the new species is neither basal nor a derived member of Titanosauria. Based on lower jaw morphology, it appears to be closely related to Antarctosaurus and Bonitasaura. This discovery enriches the titanosaur diversity of Brazil and provides further new anatomical information on the lower jaws of those herbivorous dinosaurs.^[1]

Phylogenetic analyses have found Brasilotitan to be the

sister taxon of another Brazilian titanosaur, Uberabatitan.^[4]^[5] Filippi et al. included Brasilotitan in what they called "Clade A", a grouping of titanosaurs with square jaws.^[5]