Liaoningotitan (meaning "Liaoning giant") is a genus of titanosauriform sauropod from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian) Yixian Formation in Liaoning, China.

Liaoningotitan
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, Barremian
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Sauropodomorpha
Clade: Sauropoda
Clade: Macronaria
Clade: Somphospondyli
Genus: Liaoningotitan
Zhou et al., 2018
Species:
L. sinensis
Binomial name
Liaoningotitan sinensis
Zhou et al., 2018

Description

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Distinguishing features of Liaoningotitan include a ventral margin of the maxilla that is convex, an upper tooth row that is short and anteriorly positioned; an anterior extension of the jugal that nearly reaches the level of the anterior margin of the antorbital fenestra; a basally constricted quadrate wing of the pterygoid; imbricated upper teeth, with narrow spatulate crowns that are D-shaped in cross section, and no labial grooves or denticles; nine reduced and un-imbricated lower teeth; asymmetric lower tooth crowns which are elliptical-like in cross section, with lingual grooves and ridges and a lingually bulbous basal crown; a proximal expansion of the humerus that is about 54.9% the length of the humerus; and an ilium with a pointed preacetabular process.[1]

Classification

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Zhou et al. (2018) recover Liaoningotitan as a somphospondylan titanosauriform more derived than Euhelopus.[1] In 2022, Mo et al. found Liaoningotitan to be an unstable taxon that may be closely related to Diamantinasaurus and Baotianmansaurus.[2]

Paleoecology

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Liaoningotitan is one of three titanosauriforms from the Yixian Formation of Liaoning, the others being Dongbeititan and Ruixinia.[2] These forms co-existed with feathered dinosaurs in the Early Cretaceous lacustrine environment of present-day Liaoning.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Zhou, C.-F.; Wu, W.-H.; Sekiya, T.; Dong, Z.-M. (2018). "A new Titanosauriformes dinosaur from Jehol Biota of western Liaoning, China". Global Geology. 37 (2): 327–333. doi:10.3969/j.issn.1004-5589.2018.02.001.
  2. ^ a b Mo, Jinyou; Ma, Feimin; Yu, Yilun; Xu, Xing (2022-12-09). "A new titanosauriform sauropod with an unusual tail from the Lower Cretaceous of northeastern China". Cretaceous Research. 144: 105449. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105449. ISSN 0195-6671. S2CID 254524890.