Dongbeititan
"northeast titan"
- Lived
- 126 to 120 million years ago, Early Cretaceous
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Group
- Sauropods
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Wang et al. 2007
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
125 million years ago
Habitat
Forests with conifers and ferns grew around freshwater lakes in a region with active volcanoes. Yutyrannus, Sinosauropteryx and Beipiaosaurus also come from the Yixian Formation.
Field notes
About Dongbeititan
What it was like
Dongbeititan was a sauropod, a long-necked plant eater. It is known from part of its body and limbs and was a relative of the titanosaurs.
Its world
It lived in the Early Cretaceous, in what is now China. It comes from the Yixian Formation, famous for feathered dinosaurs such as Yutyrannus, Sinosauropteryx and Beipiaosaurus. Large sauropods are rare in those rocks, so Dongbeititan is an unusual find.
How it was found
Wang and colleagues named Dongbeititan in 2007.
Field gallery
More views of Dongbeititan
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Dongbeititan.
The evidence
The science behind Dongbeititan
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- An associated partial skeleton preserves neck and body vertebrae, shoulder and pelvic bones, and most of a hindlimb.
- Hindfoot bones and inner toe claws show a larger innermost claw beside a smaller neighboring claw.
Borrowed from relatives
- Euhelopus provides a comparison for its missing skull, including a moderately deep, rounded muzzle.
- Other sauropods help restore the missing forefeet as compact columns of upright hand bones.
Still unknown
- Its skull shape and exact neck proportions.
- The complete arrangement of its fingers and toes.
- Its skin, color and social behavior.
Often drawn wrong
- A row of equal hindfoot claws misses the size difference between the preserved inner claws.
- Spread, grasping fingers replace the compact supporting forefeet expected in a sauropod.
Discovery timeline
- 2003PostureBonnan
- 2007Named itWang et al.
- 2013Close relativePoropat & Kear
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Dongbeititan
Posture
Showed how sauropod hand bones formed upright supporting columns, providing a guide to the missing forefeet of Dongbeititan.
The evolution of manus shape in sauropod dinosaurs: implications for functional morphology, forelimb orientation, and phylogeny. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 23: 595-613
Read the paper : The evolution of manus shape in sauropod dinosaurs: implications for functional morphology, forelimb orientation, and phylogeny (opens in a new tab)Named it
Described a partial skeleton and identified the first named sauropod from the Yixian Formation as an early relative of titanosaurs.
Dongbeititan dongi, the first sauropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Jehol Group of western Liaoning Province, China. Acta Geologica Sinica 81: 911-916
No link available
Close relative
Reassembled the skull of Euhelopus, offering a comparison for the missing head of Dongbeititan.
Photographic Atlas and Three-Dimensional Reconstruction of the Holotype Skull of Euhelopus zdanskyi with Description of Additional Cranial Elements. PLoS ONE 8: e79932
Read the paper : Photographic Atlas and Three-Dimensional Reconstruction of the Holotype Skull of Euhelopus zdanskyi with Description of Additional Cranial Elements (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Somphospondyli
Sources: Wikidata