''Dongbeititan'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

sauropod Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their b ...

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

from the

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous (geochronology, geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphy, chronostratigraphic name) is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 143.1 ...

-age

Yixian Formation The Yixian Formation (; formerly Romanization of Chinese, transcribed as Yihsien Formation or Yixiang Formation) is a geological formation in Jinzhou, Liaoning, People's Republic of China, that spans the Barremian stage of the Early Cretaceous. I ...

Beipiao Beipiao () is a city in Chaoyang prefecture, Liaoning province, in Northeast China. It has a population of 202,807. The main industry in the area is coal mining. With vertical shafts of almost 1000m, these are some of the deepest coal mines in C ...

Liaoning ) , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = Clockwise: Mukden Palace in Shenyang, Xinghai Square in Dalian, Dalian coast, Yalu River at Dandong , image_map = Liaoning in China (+all claims hatched).svg , ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. It is based on

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

DNHM D2867, a partial

postcranial The postcranium ("behind the cranium"; plural: postcrania) or postcranial skeleton in zoology and vertebrate paleontology is the skeleton apart from the skull. The postcranium encompasses the axial skeleton, which includes the entirety of the verte ...

skeleton including bones from the limbs,

shoulder The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone) as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder m ...

and

pelvic girdle The hip bone (os coxae, innominate bone, pelvic bone or coxal bone) is a large flat bone, constricted in the center and expanded above and below. In some vertebrates (including humans before puberty) it is composed of three parts: the Ilium (bone) ...

s, and

vertebra Each vertebra (: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spina ...

e, which was described in 2007. Its describers suggested it was as a basal

titanosauriform Macronaria is a clade of sauropod dinosaurs. Macronarians are named after the large diameter of the nasal opening of their skull, known as the external naris, which exceeded the size of the orbit, the skull opening where the eye is located (hence ...

, not as derived as '' Gobititan'' or ''

Jiutaisaurus ''Jiutaisaurus'' (meaning "Jiutai lizard") is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Quantou Formation of Jilin, China. ''Jiutaisaurus'' was a sauropod which lived during the Cretaceous. The type species, ''Jiutaisaurus xidiensis'', was describe ...

'', but more derived than ''

Euhelopus ''Euhelopus'' is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived between 145 and 133 million years ago during the Berriasian and Valanginian ages of the Early Cretaceous in what is now Shandong Province in China. It was a large quadrupedal herbivore. Lik ...

'', ''

Fusuisaurus ''Fusuisaurus'' (meaning "Fusui lizard" from the name of the county where it was discovered) is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of China. Fragmentary postcranial remains of this animal have been discovered in 2001 in the ...

'', and ''

Huanghetitan ''Huanghetitan'' (meaning "Yellow River titan"), is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the early Cretaceous Period. It was a basal titanosauriformes, titanosauriform which lived in what is now Gansu, China. History The type species, ''Huangh ...

''. The

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

is ''D. dongi'', and it is the first named sauropod from the Yixian Formation, which is part of the well-known Jehol Group. The genus name refers to the region

Dongbei Northeast China () is a geographical region of China, consisting officially of three provinces Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The heartland of the region is the Northeast China Plain, the largest plain in China with an area of over . The region ...

and to Greek

titan Titan most often refers to: * Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn * Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology Titan or Titans may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities Fictional locations * Titan in fiction, fictiona ...

, "giant". The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

honours the Chinese paleontologist

Dong Zhiming Dong Zhiming (Chinese language, Chinese: 董枝明, Pinyin: ''Dǒng Zhimíng''; January 1937 – 20 October 2024) was a Chinese vertebrate paleontologist formerly employed at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) ...

. Like other sauropods, ''Dongbeititan'' would have been a large

quadruped Quadrupedalism is a form of locomotion in which animals have four legs that are used to bear weight and move around. An animal or machine that usually maintains a four-legged posture and moves using all four legs is said to be a quadruped (fr ...

herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat ...

Discovery

Fossils of an unknown dinosaur were found in north-eastern

, in western

province, in the region of

. The bones lay in a valley between Libalang and Er Valleys, about 5 km north-western from Sihetun Fossil Museum in Beipiao. This area is covered by rocks belonging to the Jehol Group, formed in the

. Between these rocks numerous discoveries have already been made. Xu & Norel (2006) enlisted from Jehol group 25 species of non-avian dinosaurs, among them

Ornithopoda Ornithopoda () is a clade of ornithischian dinosaurs, called ornithopods (). They represent one of the most successful groups of herbivorous dinosaurs during the Cretaceous. The most primitive members of the group were bipedal and relatively sm ...

(''

Jeholosaurus ''Jeholosaurus'' is a genus of neornithischian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period. It is thought to have been a herbivorous small ornithopod. History of discovery The first two ''Jeholosaurus'' specimens were found in 2000 at Lujiatu ...

shangyuanensis'', ''

Jinzhousaurus ''Jinzhousaurus'' is a genus of hadrosauroid dinosaur of the Early Cretaceous of China. The type species is ''Jinzhousaurus yangi''. The generic name refers to the town Jinzhou. The specific name honours Yang Zhongjian is the founder of Chinese p ...

yangi''),

Ankylosauria Ankylosauria is a group of herbivorous dinosaurs of the clade Ornithischia. It includes the great majority of dinosaurs with armor in the form of bony osteoderms, similar to turtles. Ankylosaurs were bulky quadrupeds, with short, powerful limbs ...

(''

Liaoningosaurus ''Liaoningosaurus'' (meaning "Liaoning lizard") is an unusual genus of basal ankylosaurid dinosaur from the Liaoning Province, China that lived during the Early Cretaceous (late Barremian to early Aptian stages, ~125.4 to 118.9 Ma) in what is n ...

paradoxus'') and

Ceratopsia Ceratopsia or Ceratopia ( or ; Ancient Greek, Greek: "horned faces") is a group of herbivore, herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs that thrived in what are now North America, Asia and Europe, during the Cretaceous Period (geology), Period, although ance ...

(''

Psittacosaurus ''Psittacosaurus'' ( ; "parrot lizard") is a genus of extinct ceratopsian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of what is now Asia, existing between 125 and 105 million years ago. It is notable for being the most species-rich non-avian dinosaur ...

meileyingensis'', ''P. mongoliensis'', ''P. sp.'', '' Hongshanosaurus houi'', ''

Liaoceratops ''Liaoceratops'', meaning "Liaoning horned face", is a ceratopsian dinosaur believed to be an early relative of the horned ceratopsids. It lived in the Early Cretaceous, 126 million years ago. It was discovered in China by a team of American and ...

yanzigouensis''), and especially members of different

Coelurosauria Coelurosauria (; from Greek, meaning "hollow-tailed lizards") is the clade containing all theropod dinosaurs more closely related to birds than to carnosaurs. Coelurosauria is a subgroup of theropod dinosaurs that includes compsognathids, tyra ...

groups, such as

Compsognathidae Compsognathidae is a family of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs. Compsognathids were small carnivores, generally conservative in form, hailing from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. The bird-like features of these species, a ...

('' Huaxiagnathus orientalis'', ''

Sinosauropteryx ''Sinosauropteryx'' (meaning "Chinese reptilian wing") is an extinct genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs. Described in 1996, it was the first dinosaur taxon outside of Avialae (birds and their immediate relatives) to be found with eviden ...

prima''),

Therizinosauroidea Therizinosaurs (; once called segnosaurs) are an extinct group of large herbivorous theropod dinosaurs whose fossils have been mainly discovered from Cretaceous deposits in Asia and North America. Potential fragmentary remains have also been foun ...

(''

Beipiaosaurus ''Beipiaosaurus'' is a genus of Therizinosauroidea, therizinosauroid theropod dinosaurs that lived in China during the Early Cretaceous in the Yixian Formation. The first remains were found in 1996 and formally described in 1999. Before the disc ...

inexpectus''),

Ornithomimosauria Ornithomimosauria ("bird-mimic lizards") are theropod dinosaurs which bore a superficial resemblance to the modern-day ostrich. They were fast, omnivorous or herbivorous dinosaurs from the Cretaceous Period of Laurasia (now Asia, Europe and No ...

(''

Shenzhousaurus ''Shenzhousaurus'' (meaning "Shenzhou lizard") is a genus of basal (phylogenetics), basal ornithomimosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China.The holotype (NGMC 97-4-002, National Geological Museum of China) was collected from near the bottom (fl ...

orientalis''),

Oviraptorosauria Oviraptorosaurs ("egg thief lizards") are a group of feathered maniraptoran dinosaurs from the Cretaceous Period (geology), Period of what are now Asia and North America. They are distinct for their characteristically short, beaked, parrot-like s ...

(''

Caudipteryx ''Caudipteryx'' (meaning "tail feather") is a genus of small oviraptorosaur dinosaurs that lived in Asia during the Early Cretaceous, around 124.6 million years ago. They were feathered and extremely birdlike in their overall appearance, to the ...

zou'', ''C. dongi'', ''

Incisivosaurus ''Incisivosaurus'' ("incisor lizard") is a genus of small, probably herbivorous theropod dinosaurs from the early Cretaceous Period of what is now the People's Republic of China. The first specimen to be described (by Xu ''et al.'' in 2002), IVPP ...

gauthieri''),

Tyrannosauroidea Tyrannosauroidea (meaning 'tyrant lizard forms') is a superfamily (or clade) of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs that includes the family Tyrannosauridae as well as more basal relatives. Tyrannosauroids lived on the Laurasian supercontinent ...

(''

Dilong paradoxus ''Dilong'' (帝龍, which means 'emperor dragon') is a genus of small basal tyrannosauroid dinosaurs. The only species in the genus is ''Dilong paradoxus'', known from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of East Asia (in what is now China). Th ...

'', ''D. sp.''). (their list does not include taxa described later, as ''

Yutyrannus ''Yutyrannus'' (meaning "feathered tyrant") is a genus of proceratosaurid tyrannosauroid dinosaur which contains a single known species, ''Yutyrannus huali''. This species lived during the early Cretaceous period in what is now northeastern Ch ...

''),

Dromaeosauridae Dromaeosauridae () is a family of feathered coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs. They were generally small to medium-sized feathered carnivores that flourished in the Cretaceous Period. The name Dromaeosauridae means 'running lizards', from ...

('' Graciliraptor lujiatunensis'', ''

Microraptor ''Microraptor'' (Greek language, Greek, μικρός, ''mīkros'': "small"; Latin language, Latin, ''raptor'': "one who seizes") is a genus of small, four-winged dromaeosaurid dinosaurs. Numerous well-preserved fossil specimens have been recovere ...

gui'', ''M. zhaoianus'', ''

Sinornithosaurus ''Sinornithosaurus'' (derived from a combination of Latin and Ancient Greek, Greek, meaning 'Chinese bird-lizard') is a genus of Feathered dinosaurs, feathered dromaeosaurid dinosaur from the early Cretaceous Period (geology), Period (late Barrem ...

milleni''),

Troodontidae Troodontidae is a clade of bird-like theropod dinosaurs from the Late Jurassic to Late Cretaceous. During most of the 20th century, troodontid fossils were few and incomplete and they have therefore been allied, at various times, with many dinos ...

(''

Sinovenator ''Sinovenator'' (meaning "Chinese hunter") is a genus of troodontid dinosaur from China. It is from the early Cretaceous Period (geology), Period. Discovery and naming Two specimens of a troodontidae, troodontid were described in 2002 in paleo ...

changii'', '' Mei long'', '' Sinucerasaurus magodens''), and further unclassified ('' Protarchaeopteryx robusta'', ''

Yixianosaurus ''Yixianosaurus'' (meaning "Yixian lizard") is a maniraptoran theropod dinosaur genus from the Early Cretaceous of China. The type species, ''Yixianosaurus longimanus'', was formally named and described by Xu Xing and Wang Xiaolin in 2003. Its ...

longimanus''). Remains of

Sauropodomorpha Sauropodomorpha ( ; from Greek, meaning "lizard-footed forms") is an extinct clade of long-necked, herbivorous, saurischian dinosaurs that includes the sauropods and their ancestral relatives. Sauropods generally grew to very large sizes, had lo ...

were found only in the form of fossils ''incertae sedis''. No taxon had been described from them, which made the picture of Jehol fauna incomplete. The aforementioned new fossils were found in the rocks of Jehol group-belonging

, formed in

barremian The Barremian is an age in the geologic timescale (or a chronostratigraphic stage) between 125.77 Ma (million years ago) and 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma (Historically, this stage was placed at 129.4 million to approximately 125 million years ago) It is a ...

. In 2006 the fossils were gained by the Natural History Museum in Dalian and the Lufeng Dinosaur Research Center of

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

Province offered help in specimen preparation. The specimen was exposed by the mentioned museum, cataloged as D2867.

Description

The bones were characterized by a camelar structure of presacral vertebrae, pneumatocoels on proximal extremities of dorsal costae, and medially bent proximal

femur The femur (; : femurs or femora ), or thigh bone is the only long bone, bone in the thigh — the region of the lower limb between the hip and the knee. In many quadrupeds, four-legged animals the femur is the upper bone of the hindleg. The Femo ...

. Mentioned traits suggest that the specimen belongs to

Titanosauriformes Macronaria is a clade of sauropod dinosaurs. Macronarians are named after the large diameter of the nasal opening of their skull, known as the external naris, which exceeded the size of the orbit, the skull opening where the eye is located (hence ...

, a sauropod group from

Macronaria Macronaria is a clade of sauropod dinosaurs. Macronarians are named after the large diameter of the nasal opening of their skull, known as the external naris, which exceeded the size of the orbit, the skull opening where the eye is located (hence ...

n line, one of 2 main lines of evolutionarily derived sauropods. Titanosauriformes, created by

Leonardo Salgado Leonardo Salgado is an Argentine palaeontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossi ...

, contain ''

Brachiosaurus ''Brachiosaurus'' () is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic, about . It was first Species description, described by American paleontologist Elmer S. Riggs in 1903 in paleontology, 1903 from fossi ...

'' and

Titanosauria Titanosaurs (or titanosaurians; members of the group Titanosauria) were a diverse group of Sauropoda, sauropod dinosaurs, including genera from all seven continents. The titanosaurs were the last surviving group of long-necked sauropods, with tax ...

. It means it comprise

Brachiosauridae The Brachiosauridae ("arm lizards", from Greek ''brachion'' (βραχίων) = "arm" and ''sauros'' = "lizard") are a family or clade of herbivorous, quadrupedal sauropod dinosaurs. Brachiosaurids had long necks that enabled them to access the le ...

, ''

'' and

, wherein the last two of mentioned made up a

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

Somphospondyli Somphospondyli is an extinct clade of titanosauriformes, titanosauriform sauropods that lived from the Late Jurassic until the end of the Late Cretaceous, comprising all titanosauriforms more closely related to Titanosauria proper than Brachiosau ...

. The newly described specimen belongs to Somphospondyli too, but not to

, defined as all Titanosauriformes closer to ''

Saltasaurus ''Saltasaurus'' (which means "lizard from Salta") is a genus of saltasaurid dinosaur of the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), period of Argentina. Small among sauropods, though still heavy by the standards of modern creatures, ''Saltasaurus'' was ...

'' than ''

'' or ''Euhelopus''. This evolutionary advanced group links

Saltasauridae Saltasauridae (named after the Salta region of Argentina where they were first found) is a family of armored herbivorous sauropods from the Upper Cretaceous. They are known from fossils found in South America, Africa, Asia, North America, and Eur ...

Nemegtosauridae Nemegtosauridae is a family of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaurs based on their diplodocid-like skulls. Only three species are known: '' Nemegtosaurus'', '' Quaesitosaurus'' and possibly '' Tapuiasaurus'', each from the Cretaceous. History of cla ...

and ''

Malawisaurus ''Malawisaurus'' (meaning "Malawi lizard") is an extinct genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur. It is known from the Dinosaur Beds of northern Malawi, which probably date to the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous. The type species is ''M. di ...

''. Authors, besides they classified the new taxon in Somphospondyli, described it as a basal Titanosauriformes member. As traits distinguishing it from its relatives, they point out firstly

coracoid A coracoid is a paired bone which is part of the shoulder assembly in all vertebrates except therian mammals (marsupials and placentals). In therian mammals (including humans), a coracoid process is present as part of the scapula, but this is n ...

bone elongated anteroposteriorly and of square capitoventral end and secondly long, smooth, slightly convex acetabular margin of

pubic bone In vertebrates, the pubis or pubic bone () forms the lower and anterior part of each side of the hip bone. The pubis is the most forward-facing (ventral and anterior) of the three bones that make up the hip bone. The left and right pubic bones ar ...

. Having given the diagnostic traits, the authors could describe a new genus of Dinosauria. They named it ''Dongbeititan''. The generic name refers to a place where the bones have been found, a

region containing Chinese provinces Liaoning,

Jilin ) , image_skyline = Changbaishan Tianchi from western rim.jpg , image_alt = , image_caption = View of Heaven Lake , image_map = Jilin in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_al ...

, and

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang is a province in northeast China. It is the northernmost and easternmost province of the country and contains China's northernmost point (in Mohe City along the Amur) and easternmost point (at the confluence of the Amur and Us ...

. Its name comes from

chinese language Chinese ( or ) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and List of ethnic groups in China, many minority ethnic groups in China, as well as by various communities of the Chinese diaspora. Approximately 1.39& ...

. To that ''Dongbei'' second word ''titan'' was joined. It descends from

greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and was denoting enormous giants from

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

Titans In Greek mythology, the Titans ( ; ) were the pre-Twelve Olympians, Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth). The six male ...

, sons of

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is a gaseous cyan-coloured ice giant. Most of the planet is made of water, ammonia, and methane in a Supercritical fluid, supercritical phase of matter, which astronomy calls "ice" or Volatile ( ...

and

Gaia In Greek mythology, Gaia (; , a poetic form of ('), meaning 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea (), is the personification of Earth. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenogenic—of all life. She is the mother of Uranus (S ...

, a primordial deities defeated by later Olimpic gods. In the genus a single species was placed, namely ''Dongbeititan dongi''. Its specific epithet honors palaeontology professor

in recognition of his contributions to research and education in the field of Chinese dinosaurs. Wang ''et al.'' didn't publish in their paper any cladogram presenting the position of the new genus on the evolutionary tree of Titanosauriformes.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2154426 Macronaria Dinosaur genera Barremian dinosaurs Yixian Formation Taxa named by Hailu You Fossil taxa described in 2007 Dinosaurs of China