Volgatitan (meaning "Volga giant") is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of the Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia. The type and only species is Volgatitan simbirskiensis, known from seven caudal vertebrae from a single individual. It is the oldest known titanosaur from the northern hemisphere, and is considered important for being related to the Lognkosauria, a group known only from South America later in the Late Cretaceous.[1] It was first described in November 2018 by Russian palaeontologists Alexander Averianov and Vladimir Efimov.[1][2] It is estimated to have weighed about 17.3 metric tons (19.1 short tons).[1]

Volgatitan
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, Hauterivian
Skeletal diagram, known material in white
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Sauropodomorpha
Clade: Sauropoda
Clade: Macronaria
Clade: Titanosauria
Clade: Lithostrotia
Genus: Volgatitan
Averianov & Efimov, 2018
Species:
V. simbirskiensis
Binomial name
Volgatitan simbirskiensis
Averianov & Efimov, 2018

Classification

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Averianov and Efimov recovered Volgatitan as a lithostrotian titanosaur. They found Lithostrotia to be divided into two main lineages, one containing Saltasauridae, the other containing Lognkosauria, with Volgatitan belonging to the latter. The following cladogram follows their analysis.[1]

Lithostrotia

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Averianov, Alexander; Efimov, Vladimir (2018). "The oldest titanosaurian sauropod of the Northern Hemisphere". Biological Communications. 63 (6): 145–162. doi:10.21638/spbu03.2018.301. hdl:11701/15099.
  2. ^ "Russian scientists discover new giant herbivorous dinosaur Volgatitan". India Today. 10 December 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2018.