PBDB Taxon

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Titanosauridae (titanosaurid)

Reptilia - Titanosauridae

Taxonomy

Titanosauridae was named by Lydekker (1885). Its type is Titanosaurus.

It was synonymized subjectively with Atlantosauridae by Charig (1967), Swinton (1970) and Bonaparte (1978).

It was assigned to Homalosauropodidae by Huene (1948) and Young (1958); to Cetiosauria by Colbert (1964); to Homalosauropodoidea by Kuhn (1966); to Saurischia by Madsen and Miller (1979); to Sauropoda by Bakker (1986); to Sauropodomorpha by Powell (1987); to Sauropoda by Molnar (1992) and McIntosh (1997); to Sauropoda by Lydekker (1885), Marsh (1895), Marsh (1896), Marsh (1898), Huene (1927), Huene (1927), Huene (1929), Swinton (1936), Gilmore (1946), Romer (1956), Huene (1959), Romer (1966), Reig (1970), Rozhdestvensky (1977), Galton (1977), Ostrom (1980), Russell (1984), Carroll (1988), McIntosh (1990), Benton (1990), Jacobs et al. (1993), Hunt et al. (1995) and Dong (1998); to Titanosauroidea by Upchurch (1995), Upchurch (1995), Upchurch (1997) and Salgado (2003); to Eutitanosauria by Powell (2003); to Sauropoda by Lydekker (1893), Huene (1927), Huene (1929), Huene (1933), Roxo (1937), Hoffet (1942), Kuhn (1946), Lapparent (1947), Parsch (1963), Bonaparte (1980) and Martinelli and Forasiepi (2004); and to Titanosauria by Bonaparte and Coria (1993), Bonaparte (1996), Salgado et al. (1997), Bonaparte (1999), Santucci and Bertini (2001), Smith et al. (2001), Calvo and González Riga (2003), González-Riga (2003), de Almeida et al. (2004), Salgado and Coria (2005), Apesteguía (2005), Novas et al. (2005), Moser et al. (2006), Calvo et al. (2007), Calvo et al. (2007) and González Riga et al. (2009).

Subtaxa

Antarctosaurinae, Hypselosaurus, Megaloolithidae, Titanosaurinae

Synonyms

Antarctosauridae was named by Olshevsky (1978).

It was synonymized subjectively with Titanosauridae by Dong (1998).
Hypselosaurus was named by Matheron (1869).

It was considered a nomen dubium by Le Loeuff (1993) and Le Loeuff (1995); it was considered a nomen dubium by Casanovas-Cladellas et al. (1995); it was considered a nomen dubium by Upchurch et al. (2004) and Le Loeuff (2005).

It was assigned to Crocodilia by Gervais (1869) and Matheron (1869); to Hadrosauridae by Zittel (1890); to Morosauridae by Depéret (1900) and Gautier (1901); to Atlantosauridae by Nopcsa (1901); to Sauropoda by Huene (1908), Huene (1909) and von Zittel (1911); to Diplodocidae by Bataller (1960); to Sauropoda by Tatarinov (1964); to Titanosaurinae by Nopcsa (1928), Romer (1956), Charig (1967), Steel (1970), Swinton (1970), Sanz (1986) and Casanovas et al. (1987); and to Titanosauridae by Huene (1927), Huene (1927), Huene (1927), Huene (1929), Huene (1941), Gilmore (1946), Young (1965), Romer (1966), Clottes and Raynaud (1983), Carroll (1988), Cousin et al. (1989), Buffetaut (1989), McIntosh (1990), McIntosh (1990), Buffetaut et al. (1991), Upchurch (1995), Jacobs et al. (1996), Sahni (1997) and Powell (2003).
Hypselosaurus priscus was named by Matheron (1869). It is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Rognac train station, which is in a Maastrichtian terrestrial sandstone in France.

It was considered a nomen dubium by Le Loeuff (1993); it was considered a nomen dubium by Le Loeuff (1995); it was considered a nomen dubium by Le Loeuff (1998); it was considered a nomen dubium by Upchurch et al. (2004) and Le Loeuff (2005); it was considered a nomen dubium by Tortosa et al. (2010), Le Loeuff (2010) and Díez Díaz and Pereda Suberbiola (2010).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1869	Hipselosaurus Gervais p. 215
1869	Hipselosaurus priscus Gervais p. 215
1869	Hypselosaurus Matheron p. 370
1869	Hypselosaurus priscus Matheron p. 370
1869	Hypselosaurus Matheron p. 790
1869	Hypselosaurus priscus Matheron p. 790
1873	Hypselosaurus priscus Gervais p. 469
1885	Titanosauridae Lydekker p. 37
1890	Hypselosaurus Zittel p. 766
1893	Titanosauridae Lydekker p. 3
1895	Titanosauridae Marsh
1896	Titanosauridae Marsh p. 242
1898	Titanosauridae Marsh p. 158
1900	Hypselosaurus priscus Depéret p. 637
1900	Hypselosaurus Depéret pp. 638-639
1901	Hypselosaurus priscus Gautier p. 113
1901	Hypselosaurus Gautier p. 115
1901	Hypselosaurus Nopcsa p. 205
1901	Hypselosaurus priscus Nopcsa p. 205
1908	Hypselosaurus Huene p. 348
1909	Hypselosaurus Huene p. 15
1911	Hypselosaurus von Zittel p. 288
1924	Hypselosaurus priscus Joleaud p. 44
1927	Titanosauridae Huene p. 125
1927	Hypselosaurus Huene p. 126
1927	Titanosauridae Huene p. 256
1927	Hypselosaurus Huene p. 270
1927	Hypselosaurus priscus Huene p. 270
1927	Titanosauridae Huene p. 467
1927	Hypselosaurus Huene p. 469
1928	Hypselosaurus Nopcsa p. 184
1929	Hypselosaurus priscus Huene p. 94
1929	Hypselosaurus Huene p. 107
1929	Titanosauridae Huene p. 155
1931	Hypselosaurus priscus Jepsen p. 13
1932	Hypselosaurus priscus Stromer p. 6
1933	Titanosauridae Huene p. 70
1936	Titanosauridae Swinton p. 209
1937	Titanosauridae Roxo p. 65
1941	Hypselosaurus Huene p. 90
1941	Hypselosaurus priscus Huene p. 90
1942	Titanosauridae Hoffet p. 53
1946	Titanosauridae Gilmore p. 29
1946	Hypselosaurus Gilmore p. 30
1946	Titanosauridae Kuhn p. 66
1947	Titanosauridae Lapparent p. 17
1947	Hypselosaurus priscus Lapparent p. 21
1948	Titanosauridae Huene p. 93
1948	Hypselosaurus priscus Lapparent p. 1186
1956	Titanosauridae Romer p. 621
1956	Hypselosaurus Romer p. 622
1958	Titanosauridae Young p. 25
1959	Titanosauridae Huene p. 121
1960	Hypselosaurus Bataller p. 159
1960	Hypselosaurus priscus Jeletzky p. 34
1961	Hypselosaurus priscus Schwarz et al. p. 346
1963	Titanosauridae Parsch p. 4
1964	Titanosauridae Colbert p. 22 fig. 6
1964	Hypselosaurus Tatarinov p. 552
1965	Hypselosaurus Young p. 169
1965	Hypselosaurus priscus Young p. 169
1966	Titanosauridae Kuhn p. 99
1966	Hypselosaurus Romer p. 370
1966	Titanosauridae Romer p. 370
1967	Hypselosaurus Charig p. 713
1967	Hypselosaurus priscus Charig p. 713
1967	Hypselosaurus priscus Lapparent p. 10
1970	Titanosauridae Reig p. 279
1970	Hypselosaurus Steel p. 76
1970	Hypselosaurus priscus Steel p. 76
1970	Hypselosaurus Swinton p. 183
1971	Hypselosaurus priscus Dinca et al. p. 90
1972	Hypselosaurus priscus Erben p. 17
1976	Hypselosaurus priscus Dughi and Sirugue p. 3
1977	Titanosauridae Galton p. 230
1977	Hypselosaurus priscus Krampitz et al. p. 583
1977	Titanosauridae Rozhdestvensky p. 113
1978	Antarctosauridae Olshevsky p. 27
1979	Titanosauridae Madsen and Miller p. 5
1980	Titanosauridae Bonaparte p. 82
1980	Titanosauridae Ostrom p. 22
1981	Hypselosaurus priscus Borgomanero and Leonardi p. 215
1983	Hypselosaurus Clottes and Raynaud pp. 10-11
1983	Hypselosaurus priscus Clottes and Raynaud p. 10
1984	Hypselosaurus priscus Brinkmann p. 297
1984	Titanosauridae Russell p. 29
1985	Hypselosaurus priscus Penner p. 668
1986	Titanosauridae Bakker p. 461
1986	Hypselosaurus priscus Ginsburg p. 144
1986	Hypselosaurus Sanz p. 85
1986	Hypselosaurus priscus Villatte et al. p. 93
1987	Hypselosaurus Casanovas et al. p. 97
1987	Hypselosaurus priscus Casanovas et al. p. 100
1987	Titanosauridae Powell p. 148
1988	Hypselosaurus Carroll
1988	Titanosauridae Carroll
1988	Hypselosaurus priscus Masriera and Ullastre p. 74
1988	Hypselosaurus priscus Vianey-Liaud et al. p. 416
1989	Hypselosaurus Buffetaut p. 438
1989	Hypselosaurus Cousin et al. p. 165
1989	Hypselosaurus priscus Cousin et al. p. 165
1989	Hypselosaurus priscus Le Loeuff et al. p. 851
1990	Titanosauridae Benton p. 19
1990	Hypselosaurus McIntosh p. 57
1990	Titanosauridae McIntosh p. 394
1990	Hypselosaurus McIntosh p. 398
1990	Hypselosaurus priscus McIntosh p. 398
1991	Hypselosaurus Buffetaut et al. p. 34
1991	Hypselosaurus priscus Buffetaut et al. p. 34
1992	Hypselosaurus priscus Buffetaut p. 130
1992	Titanosauridae Molnar p. 266
1993	Titanosauridae Bonaparte and Coria
1993	Hypselosaurus priscus Buffetaut et al. p. 170
1993	Hypselosaurus priscus Currie and Eberth p. 139
1993	Titanosauridae Jacobs et al. p. 524
1994	Hypselosaurus priscus Britt and Naylor p. 257
1995	Titanosauridae Hunt et al. p. 264
1995	Titanosauridae Upchurch p. 253
1995	Hypselosaurus Upchurch p. 380
1996	Titanosauridae Bonaparte p. 102
1996	Hypselosaurus Jacobs et al. p. 602
1997	Hypselosaurus priscus Erickson p. 4
1997	Titanosauridae McIntosh p. 657
1997	Hypselosaurus Sahni p. 364
1997	Titanosauridae Salgado et al. p. 20
1997	Titanosauridae Upchurch p. 82A
1998	Titanosauridae Dong p. 85
1999	Titanosauridae Bonaparte pp. 160-161
2001	Hypselosaurus priscus Hirsch p. 381
2001	Titanosauridae Santucci and Bertini p. 308
2001	Titanosauridae Smith et al. p. 1705 fig. 3
2003	Titanosauridae Calvo and González Riga p. 335
2003	Titanosauridae González-Riga
2003	Titanosauridae Powell pp. 21–22, 156
2003	Hypselosaurus Powell p. 75
2003	Hypselosaurus priscus Powell p. 75
2003	Titanosauridae Salgado p. 17 fig. 1
2004	Titanosauridae Martinelli and Forasiepi
2004	Titanosauridae de Almeida et al. p. 242
2005	Titanosauridae Apesteguía pp. 261-262
2005	Titanosauridae Novas et al. p. 37
2005	Titanosauridae Salgado and Coria p. 435
2006	Titanosauridae Moser et al. p. 46
2007	Titanosauridae Calvo et al. p. 497 fig. 14
2007	Titanosauridae Calvo et al. p. 533 fig. 3
2007	Hypselosaurus priscus Malkani
2009	Titanosauridae González Riga et al. p. 144 fig. 11

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
—	Osteichthyes	()
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
—	Sauropsida
class	Reptilia
subclass	Eureptilia	()
—	Romeriida

Rank	Name	Author
—	Diapsida	()
—	Archosauromorpha	(Huene 1946)
—	Crocopoda
—	Archosauriformes	Gauthier 1986
—	Eucrocopoda
—	Archosauria	()
informal	Avemetatarsalia
—	Ornithodira
—	Dinosauromorpha
—	Dinosauriformes
—	Dinosauria	()
—	Saurischia	()
—	Sauropoda	()
—	Gravisauria
—	Eusauropoda
—	Neosauropoda
—	Macronaria
—	Titanosauriformes
—	Titanosauria
family	Titanosauridae
family	Titanosauridae

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

Fm. †Titanosauridae Lydekker 1885 [titanosaurid]

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Unr. †Megaloolithidae Zhao 1979

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G. †Megaloolithus Mikhailov 1991

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†Megaloolithus aureliensis Vianey-Liaud et al. 1994

†Megaloolithus cylindricus Khosla and Sahni 1995

Invalid names: Megaloolithus rahioliensis Mohabey 1998 [synonym]

†Megaloolithus dhoridungriensis Mohabey 1998

†Megaloolithus jabalpurensis Khosla and Sahni 1995

Invalid names: Megaloolithus matleyi Mohabey 1996 [synonym], Megaloolithus patagonicus Calvo et al. 1997 [synonym]

†Megaloolithus khempurensis Mohabey 1998

†Megaloolithus maghrebiensis Garcia et al. 2003

†Megaloolithus mamillare Vianey-Liaud et al. 1994

†Megaloolithus megadermus Mohabey 1998

†Megaloolithus microtuberculata Garcia and Vianey-Liaud 2001

†Megaloolithus petralta Vianey-Liaud et al. 1994

†Megaloolithus problematica Mohabey 2005

†Megaloolithus siruguei Vianey-Liaud et al. 1994

†Megaloolithus walpurensis Khosla and Sahni 1995

Invalid names: Antarctosauridae Olshevsky 1978 [synonym], Antarctosaurinae Powell 1986 [empty], Hypselosaurus Matheron 1869 [nomen dubium], Titanosaurinae Lydekker 1893 [empty]

Diagnosis

Reference	Diagnosis
R. Lydekker 1893	Sauropodous Dinosaurs in which the caudal vertebrae, with the excepcion [sic] of the firt, are procoelous, the presacrals opisthocoelous, and the lumbars without lateral cavities; the superior extremities of the chevron-bones being open.
F. v. Huene 1948	First caudal biconvex, all vertebrae in front of it opisthocoelous, behind it procoelous. No bifid neural spines; cavernous, lamellar structure of neural arches; quadrate ham-shaped; at least 12 cervicals, 6 sacrals. Originating from Cetiosaurs. Upper Jurassic to Upper Cretaceous.
L. Salgado et al. 1997	Absence of hyposphene-hypantrum articulation in posterior trunk vertebrae. Six sacral vertebrae. Anterior caudals strongly procoelous having "ball and socket" articular faces. Semilunar sternal plates. Claw on manual digit I absent. Manual phalanges absent. Preacetabular lobe of ilium nearly horizontal, outwardly projected.
J. E. Powell 2003	Quadrupedal herbivorous dinosaurs, of medium to gigantic size. Skull with very long and recurved paroccipital processes. Cylindrical teeth with open roots, slightly spatulated when unworn, except in Ampelosaurus. Short basipterygoid processes. Thirteen cervical vertebrae, probably 12 dorsals, 6 sacrals and more than 30 caudals. The opisthocoelous presacral vertebrae have cancellous structure in the centra and bulky parts of the neural arch (neural arch peduncles, ends of neurapophyses and diapophyses). Dorsal vertebrae without hyposphene-hypantrum except in the primitive Epachthosaurus. Sacrum with completely fused vertebrae. Sacral ribs with an 'I'-shaped cross section, participating in the conformation of the acetabular articular surface. First caudal biconvex or procoelous. Remaining caudals with a posterior articular condyle, with some occasional amphicoelic elements on the distal region of the tail. Neural arches joined to the anterior portion of the centrum in the middle and posterior caudals. Hemapophyses proximally open. Scapula with the glenoid articular facet oriented forward, down and inwards. Quadrangular coracoids. Sternal plates long and relatively broad, with a concave lateral margin. Fore limbs shorter than the hind limbs. Straight femur, somewhat anteroposteriorly flattened. Fibula with a marked lateral process. Astragalus relatively narrow.

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

hydroxyapatiteinfrao

Entire body:

yesinfrao

Adult length:

10 to < 100infrao

Adult width:

10 to < 100infrao

Adult height:

10 to < 100infrao

Maximum body mass:

10000 kgg

Minimum body mass:

3000 kgg

Thickness:

thickinfrao

Architecture:

compact or denseinfrao

Form:

sphericalinfrao

Ontogeny:

accretion, modification of partsinfrao

Grouping:

gregariousinfrao

Environment:

terrestrialinfrao

Locomotion:

actively mobileinfrao

Life habit:

ground dwellinginfrao

Diet:

herbivoreinfrao

Reproduction:

oviparousinfrao

Dispersal:

direct/internalinfrao

Dispersal 2:

mobileinfrao

Created:

2004-12-14 12:49:10

Modified:

2004-12-14 14:49:10

Source: g = genus, infrao = infraorder

References: Marsh 1875, Peczkis 1995

Age range: base of the Late/Upper Bajocian to the top of the Early/Lower Maastrichtian or 171.60000 to 66.00000 Ma

Collections (319 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Oldest occurrences
Late/Upper Bajocian - Early/Lower Bathonian	171.6 - 164.7	France (Occitanie)	Megaloolithus sp. (58416)
Early/Lower Kimmeridgian	155.7 - 150.8	France (Haute-Normandie)	Streptospondylus cuvieri (48856)
Early/Lower Tithonian	150.8 - 145.0	France (Poitou-Charentes)	Megaloolithidae indet. (164377)
Middle Berriasian	145.0 - 140.2	United Kingdom (England)	Megaloolithidae indet. (28994)
Early/Lower Cretaceous	145.0 - 100.5	Kenya	Titanosauridae indet. (135809)
Early/Lower Berriasian - Late/Upper Albian	145.0 - 99.6	Mali (Gao)	Sauropoda indet. (25201)
Cretaceous	145.0 - 66.0	Brazil (Mato Grosso)	Titanosauridae indet. (58812)
Valanginian - Hauterivian	139.8 - 129.4	Spain (Zaragoza)	Megaloolithus sp. 2, Megaloolithidae indet. (61330)
Aptian	125.0 - 113.0	Malawi (Northern)	Sauropodomorpha indet. (38916) Titanosauridae indet. (38912)
Aptian - Early/Lower Albian	125.0 - 109.0	USA (Wyoming)	Titanosauridae indet. (50355)
Youngest occurrences
Time interval	Ma	Country or state	PBDB collection number
Late/Upper Maastrichtian	70.6 - 66.0	France (Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur)	Megaloolithus petralta, Dinosauria indet. (35933) Megaloolithus sp., Hypselosaurus priscus (59780)
Late/Upper Maastrichtian	70.6 - 66.0	Pakistan (Balochistan)	Titanosauridae indet. (79666)
Late/Upper Maastrichtian	70.6 - 66.0	USA (New Mexico)	Titanosauridae indet. (56013 59068)
Late/Upper Maastrichtian	70.6 - 66.0	Morocco (Fes-Boulmane)	Megaloolithus maghrebiensis (206442)
Late/Upper Maastrichtian	70.6 - 66.0	France (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur)	Megaloolithus mammilare (61624) Megaloolithus sp., Megaloolithus mammilare (178881) Megaloolithus sp., Megaloolithus petralta, Megaloolithus mammilare (65382)
Late/Upper Maastrichtian	70.6 - 66.0	France (Haute-Garonne)	Titanosauridae indet. (67195 67196 118194 148954)
Late/Upper Maastrichtian	70.6 - 66.0	Spain (Cataluña)	Megaloolithus aureliensis, Megaloolithus petralta (36725) Megaloolithus mamillare (61380 169875 183093 226202) Megaloolithus mamillare, Hypselosaurus sp. (36381) Megaloolithus sp. (167946 171123) Titanosauridae indet., Megaloolithus mammilare (38893)
Late/Upper Maastrichtian	70.6 - 66.0	France (Languedoc-Roussillon)	Dinosauria indet. (53481)
Late/Upper Maastrichtian	70.6 - 66.0	USA (Texas)	Titanosauridae indet. (156122)
Late/Upper Maastrichtian	70.6 - 66.0	India (Tamil Nadu)	Titanosauridae indet. (53922)