Name: Wintonotitan
(Winton titan).
Phonetic: Win-tone-oh-tie-tan.
Named By: Scott Hocknull et al. - 2009.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropodomorpha, Sauropoda, Titanosauriformes.
Species: W. wattsi (type).
Type: Herbivore.
Size: Estimated 15 meters long.
Known locations: Australia, Queensland, Winton
Formation.
Time period: Albian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial post cranial skeleton.
Wintonotitan
and Diamantinasaurus
were the first major sauropod
discoveries
in Australia since the discovery of Austrosaurus
seventy-five years
earlier. In fact when the first fossils of Wintonotitan
where recovered
they were actually taken to be further remains of Austrosaurus.
Although Wintonotitan and Diamantinasaurus
are of comparable size and
from the same area, Wintonotitan is more lightly
built. Much
of the skeleton of Wintonotitan is still missing,
including the hind
legs, skull and cervical (neck) vertebrae. There is however enough of
the skeleton to identify Wintonotitan as a basal
titanosaur.
The
type specimen is named after the discoverer of the Wintonotitan
remains, Keith Watts, who subsequently donated them to the Queensland
Museum in 1974. Wintonotitan is also known as
'Clancy', after the Banjo
Patterson poem 'Clancy of the Overflow'. Two other dinosaurs from the
same area and described in the same year, Diamantinasaurus
and
Australovenator,
have the nicknames 'Matilda' and 'Banjo' respectively,
in honour of the poet and his work.
Further reading
- New Mid-Cretaceous (Latest Albian) Dinosaurs from Winton, Queensland,
Australia - Scott A. Hocknull, Matt A. White, Travis R. Tischler, Alex
G. Cook, Naomi D. Calleja, Trish Sloan & David A. Elliott -
2009.