Gobititan
| Gobititan | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Macronaria |
| Clade: | †Somphospondyli |
| Genus: | †Gobititan You, Tang, and Luo, 2003 |
| Type species | |
| Gobititan shenzhouensis You, Tang, and Luo, 2003
| |
Gobititan is a genus of herbivorous
Titans of Greek mythology, which is a reference to its large body size. The specific name shenzhouensis, is derived from "Shenzhou", an ancient name for China.[2]
Description
Gobititan can be distinguished from other titanosauriforms based on features of the caudal vertebrae. Compared with advanced titanosaurs, where the number of caudal vertebrae had been reduced to less than 35, Gobititan had a relatively high number of caudal vertebrae, which was interpreted as a basal trait.[2] Gregory S. Paul estimated that Gobititan was 20 m (66 ft) long and weighed 20 metric tons (22 short tons).[3]
Discovery and naming
The genus is based on one partial skeleton,
titanosaur.[2] This specimen is housed in the collection of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, in Beijing
, China.
Classification
In its original description, Gobititan was considered to be a basal
titanosauriform,[4][5] more specifically a member of the Somphospondyli.[6][7] Nevertheless, some analyses still recover Gobititan as a titanosaur.[7]