Rukwatitan
Name:
Rukwatitan
(Rukwa titan).
Phonetic: Ruk-wa-ty-tan.
Named By: Eric Gorscak, Patrick M. O'Connor,
Nancy J. Stevens & Eric Roberts - 2014.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropoda, Titanosaur.
Species: R. bisepultus
(type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Estimated about 9.1 meters long.
Known locations: Tanzania.
Time period: Albian/Cenomanian boundary of the
early/late Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial post cranial remains.
Fossils of this titanosaur were found near lake Rukwa in the Rukwa Valley of Tanzania, so the eventual name of Rukwatitan was really just a foregone conclusion. At about nine meters long, the holotype appears to indicate that Rukwatitan was a fairly small genus of titanosaur. One area of note is that the fore limbs of Rukwatitan are estimated to have been about two metres long, making Rukwatitan relatively tall for its length. Rukwatitan is also noted as having similar features to another titanosaur named Malawisaurus, though there is no doubt that these two genera are distinct from one another. It is even conceivable that given there close geographical locations and similar temporal appearance in the Cretaceous, that Rukwatitan and Malawisaurus may have co-existed together in similar ecosystems.
Further reading
- The basal titanosaurian Rukwatitan bisepultus
(Dinosauria,
Sauropoda) from the middle Cretaceous Galula Formation, Rukwa Rift
Basin, southwestern Tanzania. - Journal of Vertebrate
Paleontology, vol. 34, No. 5, 2014, p. 1133-1154 ( DOI
10.1080 / 02724634.2014.845568. - Eric Gorscak, Patrick M.
O'Connor, Nancy J. Stevens & Eric Roberts - 2014.
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