''Duriatitan'' 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 ...

of titanosauriform

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 ...

that lived in the

Late Jurassic The Late Jurassic is the third Epoch (geology), epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time scale, geologic time from 161.5 ± 1.0 to 143.1 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic stratum, strata.Owen ...

in what is now England. The

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 ...

specimen of ''Duriatitan'', BMNH 44635, is a partial left upper arm bone which was found by R.I. Smith near Sandsfoot, Weymouth in the lower Kimmeridge Clay from

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

. 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 ...

, ''D. humerocristatus'', was described in 1874 by John Hulke as a species of ''

Cetiosaurus ''Cetiosaurus'' ( meaning 'whale lizard', from the Greek '/ meaning 'sea monster' (later, 'whale') and '/ meaning 'lizard'), is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Period, living about 171 to 165 million years ago ...

'' and was noted as being similar to that of '' Gigantosaurus''. The specific name refers to the deltopectoral crest, ''crista'', on the upper arm bone, ''humerus''. The specimen was assigned to its own genus by Paul M. Barrett, Roger B.J. Benson and

Paul Upchurch Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. The generic name is derived from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

name for Dorset, ''Duria'', and 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 ...

. Thomas Holtz estimated its length at 25 meters (82 ft). '' Gigantosaurus megalonyx'' was once synonymised with ''Duriatitan'' while ''D. humerocristatus'' was still a species of '' Ornithopsis''.Lydekker, R. (1888). ''Catalogue of the Fossil Reptilia and Amphibia in the British Museum (Natural History). Part I. Containing the Orders Ornithosauria, Crocodilia, Dinosauria, Squamata, Rhynchocephalia, and Proterosauria.'' British Museum (Natural History):London, 1–309.

References

Brachiosauridae Dinosaur genera Kimmeridgian dinosaurs Fossil taxa described in 2010 Dinosaurs of the United Kingdom {{sauropodomorph-stub