Fukuititan
Name:
Fukuititan
(Fukui titan).
Phonetic: Fu-ku-e-ty-tan.
Named By: Yoichi Azuma & Masateru Shibata
- 2010.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropoda, Titanosauriforms.
Species: F. nipponensis
(type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Estimated about 10 meters long.
Known locations: Japan, Fukui Prefecture -
Kitadani Formation.
Time period: Barremian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial post cranial remains.
Fukuititan
is the first ever sauropod
dinosaur known to have lived in what is now
Japan. The holotype individual of Fukuititan
seems to have been
fairly small in terms of overall sauropod sizes, and may be a
reflection of living upon a smaller land mass. Based upon similarity
between the caudal (tail) vertebrae, Fukuititan
has been
considered as possibly being related to Borealosaurus
from China,
which in turn has been considered as a potential relative of
Opisthocoelicaudia.
Fukuititan
translates as ‘Fukui titan’ a combination of being named after
Fukui prefecture and the Ancient Greek titan which is commonly used for
naming sauropod dinosaurs of the titanosaurid lineage. The species
name nipponensis more simply means ‘from Japan’. Fukuititan
likely shared the same habitat as other dinosaurs such as the hadrosaur
Fukuisaurus
and the megaraptoran
theropod Fukuiraptor,
while
remains of Psittacosaurus
also seem to be within the formation. Aside
from these more derived fossils, indeterminate fossils of
dromaeosaurs,
other sauropods and ornithopod dinosaurs are also
known, as well as dinosaur eggs and track ways of various kinds of
dinosaurs.
Further reading
- Fukuititan nipponensis, a new titanosauriform
sauropod from the
Early Cretaceous Tetori Group of Fukui Prefecture, Japan. - Acta
Geologica Sinica 84(3):454-462. - Yoichi Azuma &
Masateru Shibata - 2010.
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