''Soriatitan'' ("Soria titan") is a genus of

brachiosaurid 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 l ...

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 ...

from the Early Cretaceous of

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 ...

. It is known from one species, ''S. golmayensis'', found in the Golmayo Formation. It lived between 130 and 125 million years ago, and was identified by a team of paleontologists in Spain.

Discovery and naming

The only known specimen of ''Soriatitan'', ''S. golmayensis'', was discovered in the Golmayo Formation (upper Hauterivian–lower Barremian) in

Soria Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial populatio ...

province,

. The material was found in the Zorralbo 1 deposit located in the vicinity of the population of

Golmayo Golmayo is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Province of Soria, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. The municipality lies at an altitude of and covers an area of . Demography T ...

. Excavation began in 2000 by a team of paleontologists from the province of Soria, and preparation began in 2009, aided by the

Dinópolis Foundation Dinópolis, located in Teruel, Spain, is one of the largest museums of paleontology in the world. It also includes some attractions, restaurants and shows. The museum comprises three main exhibition halls and a research laboratory. History In 19 ...

Description

The known material of ''S. golmayensis'' (MNS 2001/122) consists of one tooth, three dorsal vertebrae with ribs, a partial sacrum, five caudal centra, two caudal vertebral spines, one chevron, a humerus, an ulna, a radius, two partial ilia, two ischia, a fragment of a pubis, and a partial femur. It is estimated to have been 43–46 feet long (13–14 meters) and had an estimated weight of about 8 tons. Cladistic analysis has identified the known material as belonging to

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 ...

within

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 ...

. The known material shares similar characteristics with both European and North American brachiosaurids. It has similar anteriorly deflected anterior–middle caudal neural spines to ''

Cedarosaurus ''Cedarosaurus'' (meaning "Cedar lizard" - named after the Cedar Mountain Formation, in which it was discovered) is a genus of nasal-crested macronarian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period (Valanginian). It was a sauropod which lived in wha ...

'', ''

Tastavinsaurus ''Tastavinsaurus'' is a genus of sauropod dinosaur belonging to the Titanosauriformes. It is based on a partial skeleton from the Early Cretaceous Xert Formation of Spain. The type species is ''Tastavinsaurus sanzi'', named in honor of the Rio ...

'', and ''

Venenosaurus ''Venenosaurus'' ( ) is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Utah during the Early Cretaceous. Its type and only species is ''Venenosaurus dicrocei''. Fossils of ''Venenosaurus'' were first discovered in 1998, by Denver Museum o ...

'', and a proximodistally straight lateral margin between the proximal head and the humerus shaft with ''

''. The specimen was an adult with small 0.7 inch (18mm) teeth that indicates it was, like all other sauropods, a grazer. Fossilized remains of plants that lived at the same time as Soriatitan indicate that it lived in a subtropical climate in a landscape dominated by conifer trees, which would have been its main food source. The discovery of ''S. golmayensis'', indicates that there was a presence of

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 ...

brachiosaurids in both

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, supporting the hypothesis of a connection between the

tectonic plates Plate tectonics (, ) is the scientific theory that the Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of , an idea developed durin ...

of these continents at some point during the Early Cretaceous. ''S. golmayensis'' is the only known brachiosaurid described from the Early Cretaceous of Europe. Until this discovery, it was thought that brachiosaurids had become extinct in Europe around 130 million years ago.

References

External links

* *
Ecoticias.com article
- Article on the discovery of ''Soriatitan'' (Spanish)
''Soriatitan'' entry on Dinochecker.com
{{Taxonbar, from=Q38830623 Brachiosauridae Dinosaur genera Barremian dinosaurs Fossil taxa described in 2017 Dinosaurs of Spain

Discovery and naming

Description

See also

References

External links