Daxiatitan

Daxiatitan was a giant titanosauriform sauropod that inhabited what is now Gansu Province, China, during the Early Cretaceous. It is known from a partial articulated skeleton consisting of numerous massive neck vertebrae, a dorsal vertebra, tail bones, ribs, and an intact femur. Its neck was exceptionally long, with individual cervical vertebrae spanning over 90 centimetres, implying an overall neck length that may have exceeded twelve metres. 6 metres long, indicating an enormous adult weight and a broad, pillar-like stance. Daxiatitan fed on high tree foliage across inland river valleys, using its incredible reach to browse where other herbivores could not. Its anatomy shows a mixture of basal titanosauriform and derived somphospondylan traits, highlighting the impressive morphological variety of Cretaceous Asian sauropods.

It possessed one of the longest necks among Cretaceous sauropods, estimated to exceed twelve metres.

Where and when

Daxiatitan lived in the Early Cretaceous, from 125 to 113 million years ago (Aptian age). Its remains come from China, in the Hekou Group.

The numbers

Length 28 m (estimates run from 25 to 30 m). Mass about 35 t. Hip height about 5.5 m. That is 16.2 human-lengths, or 2.46 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, first ma, last ma, hip height.

Compare Daxiatitan with a bus Place on the timeline