[D] Dongbeititan dongi [sG] [T]
Describer
Wang, You, Meng, Gao, Chang, and Liu, J. 2007
Time
Cretaceous Early
Classification
Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Sauropoda Titanosauria
Diet
Herbivore
Fossilsite
Jehol Group, Beipiao, Liaoning, China
Info
Genus - Typespecies
Based on a partial postcranial skeleton of a sauropod dinosaur. A suite of features it possesses, including the camellate internal structure of its presacral elements, the existence of pneumatocoels on the proximal ends of the dorsal ribs, and especially the medially deflected proximal portion of the femur, definitively establish the titanosauriform affinities of the specimen.
It differs from other titanosauriforms in having a craniocaudally elongate coracoid with a squared cranioventral extreme and a long, smooth, and slightly convex acetabular edge of the pubis. It represents a new taxon, Dongbeititan dongi gen. et sp. nov. Comparative studies suggest that Dongbeititan is a basal titanosauriform, more derived than Euhelopus, Fusuisaurus, and Huanghetitan, but less derived than Gobititan and Jiutaisaurus.
Dongbeititan represents the first sauropod dinosaur reported from the Lower Cretaceous Jehol Group of western Liaoning Province.