''Lusotitan'' 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 herbivorous brachiosaurid

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

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 ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and possibly

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Discovery and naming

In 1947 Manuel de Matos, a member of the Geological Survey of Portugal, discovered large sauropod fossils in the Portuguese

Lourinhã Formation The Lourinhã Formation () is a fossil-rich geological formation in western Portugal, named for the municipality of Lourinhã. The formation is mostly Late Jurassic in age (Kimmeridgian/Tithonian), with the top of the formation extending into the ...

that date back to the

Tithonian In the geological timescale, the Tithonian is the latest age (geology), age of the Late Jurassic Epoch and the uppermost stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 149.2 ±0.7 annum, Ma and 143.1 ±0.6 (mi ...

stage of the

period. In 1957

Albert-Félix de Lapparent Albert-Félix de Lapparent (; 1905–1975) was a French people, French Palaeontology, palaeontologist. He was also a Society of Saint-Sulpice, Sulpician priest. He undertook a number of fossil-hunting explorations in the Sahara desert. He contribute ...

and Georges Zbyszewski named the remains as a new species of ''

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 ...

'': ''Brachiosaurus atalaiensis''. 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 ...

referred to the site Atalaia. In 2003

Octávio Mateus Octávio Mateus (born 1975) is a Portugal, Portuguese dinosaur paleontologist and biologist Professor of Paleontology at the Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da NOVA University Lisbon, Universidade Nova de Lisboa. He graduated in University of � ...

and

Miguel Telles Antunes Dr. Miguel Telles Antunes (born 11 January 1937) is a Portuguese academic, specializing in paleontology, zooarchaeology, and geology. Antunes is a ranking member of various institutions, including the Lisbon Academy of Sciences, Nova Universi ...

named it as a separate genus: ''Lusotitan.'' 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 ''Lusotitan atalaiensis''. The generic name is derived from ''Luso'', 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 an inhabitant of

Lusitania Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province encompassing most of modern-day Portugal (south of the Douro River) and a large portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and Province of Salamanca). Romans named the region after th ...

, and from the Greek word "

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 ...

", a mythological giant. Lusotitan caudals

The finds consisted of a partial

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of most animals. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is a rigid outer shell that holds up an organism's shape; the endoskeleton, a rigid internal fra ...

lacking the skull and individual vertebrae uncovered in several locations. De Lapparent did not assign a

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 ...

. In 2003 Mateus chose the skeleton as the

lectotype In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes ...

. Its bones have the inventory numbers MIGM 4798, 4801–10, 4938, 4944, 4950, 4952, 4958, 4964–6, 4981–2, 4985, 8807, and 8793-5. These remains include 28 vertebrae and elements of the appendicular skeleton. The lectotype was re-described by Mannion and colleagues in 2013. In 2017, Mocho, Royo-Torres and Ortega suggested that ''Galvesaurus'' or ''Galveosaurus'' from the Late Jurassic of Spain might represent a junior synonym of this taxon. However, a 2019 description of new material of ''Galvesaurus'' by Perez-Pueyo ''et al.'' identified phylogenetically informative characters to distinguish it from ''Lusotitan'' which was recovered as its sister taxon.

Description

''Lusotitan'' was a large sauropod, reaching in length and in body mass. It had long forearms with the humerus and femur measuring and in length, respectively.

Paleoecology

The Lourinhã Formation of western Portugal was likely to be formed during the

Kimmeridgian In the geologic timescale, the Kimmeridgian is an age in the Late Jurassic Epoch and a stage in the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 154.8 ±0.8 Ma and 149.2 ±0.7 Ma (million years ago). The Kimmeridgian follows the Oxfordian ...

ages of the

period. The area is a coastal region with a strong marine influence. Its flora and fauna are similar to the

Morrison Formation The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Upper Jurassic sedimentary rock found in the western United States which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America. It is composed of mudstone, sandstone, siltston ...

in the United States, and the

Tendaguru Formation The Tendaguru Formation, or Tendaguru Beds are a highly List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Tanzania, fossiliferous Lithostratigraphy, formation and Lagerstätte located in the Lindi Region of southeastern Tanzania. The formation represe ...

in Tanzania. ''Lusotitan'' is the largest dinosaur that has been discovered in the area. ''Lusotitan'' lived alongside species of the predatory

theropods Theropoda (; from ancient Greek , (''therion'') "wild beast"; , (''pous, podos'') "foot"">wiktionary:ποδός"> (''pous, podos'') "foot" is one of the three major groups (clades) of dinosaurs, alongside Ornithischia and Sauropodom ...

Allosaurus ''Allosaurus'' ( ) is an extinct genus of theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago during the Late Jurassic period ( Kimmeridgian to late Tithonian ages). The first fossil remains that could definitively be ascribed to th ...

'' (''A. europaeus''), ''

Ceratosaurus ''Ceratosaurus'' (from Greek 'horn' and 'lizard') is a genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur that lived in the Late Jurassic period (Kimmeridgian to Tithonian ages). The genus was first described in 1884 by American paleontologist Othni ...

'', ''

Lourinhanosaurus ''Lourinhanosaurus'' (meaning "Lourinhã lizard") was a genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur that lived during the Late Jurassic Period ( Kimmeridgian/Tithonian) in Portugal. It is one of many large predators discovered at the Lourinhã Format ...

'', and ''

Torvosaurus ''Torvosaurus'' () is a genus of large Megalosaurinae, megalosaurine Theropoda, theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 165 to 148 million years ago during the Callovian to Tithonian ages of the late Middle Jurassic, Middle and Late Jurassi ...

'', the ankylosaurian '' Dracopelta'', the sauropods ''

Bothriospondylus ''Bothriospondylus'', from Ancient Greek βοθρίον (''bothríon''), meaning "trench", and σπόνδυλος (''spóndulos''), meaning "vertebra", is a nomen dubium, dubious genus of neosauropod sauropod dinosaur. It lived during the Late Ju ...

'', '' Lourinhasaurus'', and '' Zby'', and the

stegosaurs Stegosauria is a group of Herbivore, herbivorous ornithischian dinosaurs that lived during the Jurassic and early Cretaceous Period (geology), periods. Stegosaurian fossils have been found mostly in the Northern Hemisphere (North America, Europe a ...

'' Dacentrurus'' and '' Miragaia''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q132526 Brachiosauridae Dinosaur genera Tithonian dinosaurs Lourinhã Formation Fossil taxa described in 2003 Taxa named by Miguel Telles Antunes Taxa named by Octávio Mateus Dinosaurs of Portugal