Titanosauria

Udelartitan is a titanosaurian sauropod from the Late Cretaceous of what is now Uruguay. It had the typical sauropod body plan, standing on four thick pillar-like legs, and possessing a long neck. Titanosaurs are a very diverse group, Udelartitan was a small one, estimated at only 15 m in body length. Though a skull has yet to be discovered, it probably had peglike teeth, and a large gut for processing vegetation.

Qunkasaura is a titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur that lived approximately 75 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous of what is now Spain. Specifically, it is a saltasaurid titanosaur, and its discovery marks the first instance of two distinct lineages of this group present in the same locality. In the Late Cretaceous, Europe was a large archipelago, and the coexistence of these differing lineages indicates that saltasaurids arrived in the Iberian Peninsula much later than other groups of dinosaurs.

Fig. 5. Forelimb bones of the titanosaurian sauropod Bustingorrytitan shiva gen. et sp. nov. from “Bustingorry II” site, Neuquén Province, Argentina, upper Cenomanian. A. Left coracoid (holotype, MMCH-Pv 59/13) in lateral view. B. Left scapula (holotype, MMCH-Pv 59/11) in lateral view. C. Left humerus (holotype, MMCH-Pv 59/21) in proximal (C1), anterior (C2), and distal (C3) views. D. Right radius (holotype, MMCH-Pv 59/22) in posterior view. E. Left sternal plate (holotype, MMCH-Pv 59/15) in dorsal view. F. Articulated metacarpals I–V (holotype, MMCH-Pv 59/25–29) in proximal (F1), anterior (F2) and distal (F3) views. G. Right ulna (holotype, MMCH-Pv 59/23) in medial (G1) and proximal (G2) views. Abbreviations: cf, coracoid foramen; gas, glenoid articular surface; igl, infraglenoid lip; I–V, metacarpals. Scale bars 200 mm.

Restoration of Borealosaurus a potentially titanosaur dinosaur from the Cretaceous of China

Representative taxa from the latest Campanian–Maastrichtian faunas from Transylvania, western Romania. A–B Nidophis insularis (Serpentes, Madtsoiidae), articulated vertebrae (LPB (FGGUB) v.547/2) in left lateral (A) and dorsal (B) views (Densuş-Ciula Formation, Tuştea, Haţeg Basin; photo by Ştefan Vasile) C Allodaposuchus precedens (Eusuchia, ?Hylaeochampsidae), skull (PSMUBB V 438) in dorsal view (Sebeş = Şard Formation, Oarda de Jos, southwestern Transylvanian Basin; photo by Vlad Codrea/Massimo Delfino) D Theriosuchus sympiestodon (Mesoeucrocodylia, Atoposauridae), right maxilla (MCDRD 793) in lateral view (Sînpetru Formation, Sînpetru, Haţeg Basin) E–F Indeterminate titanosaur (?Magyarosaurus dacus) (Sauropoda, Titanosauria), isolated osteoderm (LPB (FGGUB) R.1410) in dorsal (E) and lateral (F) views (Sînpetru Formation, Sînpetru, Haţeg Basin) G Indeterminate ornithuran bird (Aves, Ornithurae), incomplete left tibiotarsus (LPB (FGGUB) R.1902) in anterior view (Densuş-Ciula Formation, Vălioara, Haţeg Basin) H Balaur bondoc (Theropoda, Dromaeosauridae), articulated left distal hindlimb (EME PV.313) in lateral view (Sebeş = Şard Formation, Sebeş-Glod, southewestern Transylvanian Basin; photo by Mick Ellison) I Zalmoxes robustus (Ornithopoda, Rhabdodontidae), right dentary (NHMUK R.3407) in medial view (Sînpetru Formation, Sînpetru, Haţeg Basin) J Telmatosaurus transsylvanicus (Hadrosauria), right maxilla (MFGI unnumbered) in lateral view (Sînpetru Formation, Sînpetru, Haţeg Basin) K Indeterminate nodosaurid – Struthiosaurus transylvanicus or new taxon – (Ankylosauria, Nodosauridae), isolated tooth (LPB (FGGUB) R.2182) in medial view (Sînpetru Formation, Sînpetru, Haţeg Basin) L Barbatodon transylvanicus (Multituberculata, Kogaionidae), right maxilla (LPB (FGGUB) M.1635) in medial view (Sînpetru Formation, Pui, Haţeg Basin). Scale bars equal 1 mm in A, B; 5 mm in K; 1 cm in G, L; 2 cm in D; and 5 cm in C, E, F, H, I, J.

A hypothetical life restoration of Ampelosaurus atacis • Ampelosaurus is known from hundreds of fossil specimens which show most of the dinosaur's osteological details, however, there are few articulated remains or reconstructions of the material so its overall proportions and life appearance are uncertain. • Ampelosaurus is known to have supported osteoderms, only four are currently known. The number of these osteoderms that an individual Ampelosaurus would have supported in life and their and position on the body is not currently known. It's thought that due to the rarity of titanosaur osteoderms that they would be quite sparse on the body. The position and layout of the osteoderms has been loosely based on this interpretation, which is based on the work of Vidal et al 2015. [1]

Figure 1: Geographic provenance and speculative reconstruction of the gigantic titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur Notocolossus gonzalezparejasi gen. et sp. nov. (a) Type locality of Notocolossus (indicated by star) in southern-most Mendoza Province, Argentina. (b) Reconstructed skeleton and body silhouette in right lateral view, with preserved elements of the holotype (UNCUYO-LD 301) in light green and those of the referred specimen (UNCUYO-LD 302) in orange. Scale bar, 1 m. (All images were hand drawn by the senior author [B.J.G.R.] and subsequently edited using Adobe Illustrator software.)

A life reconstruction of the titanosaur Aeolosaurus rionegrinus in lateral view. The neck and head reconstructed based on its relative Rapetosaurus; the curvature of the tail is based on da Silva Vidal et al. 2020 (doi: 10.1080/08912963.2020.1745791)

Digital illustration of the Sauropod Dinosaur Isisaurus colberti from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of India (72.2-66 MYA). References include Jain & Bandyopadhyay (1997), several papers from Wilson et al. and skeletal reconstruction by Scott Hartman. Illustrated by Ansh Saxena. About Isisaurus– Isisaurus colberti (=Titanosaurus colberti) was a species of Titanosaurian Sauropod Dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) age in the Indian Subcontinent. Isisaurus lived sympatrically with another Titanosaurian Sauropod Jainosaurus. It also lived alongside Theropods like Rajasaurus, Rahiolisaurus, Indosuchus etc. Remains of Isisaurus come from the Lameta formation of Central India.

The titanosaurian sauropod Lirainosaurus astibiae Sanz, Powell, Le Loeuff, Martínez, and Pereda Suberbiola, 1999 from the Late Cretaceous of Laño (northern Spain), paratypic braincase (MCNA 7439). Right lateral, left lateral, posterior, and anterior views.