Gobititan

Gobititan was a large herbivorous sauropod that lived in the arid and semi-arid floodplains of the Gobi Desert region during the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous. Uncovered in Gansu Province, China, the holotype consists of a series of tail vertebrae and an incomplete left hindlimb. The forward tail vertebrae show cranial and caudal articular surfaces that are largely flat, distinguishing it from more advanced titanosaurs whose tail joints are distinctly ball-and-socket in construction. Gobititan walked on four pillarlike legs and probably had an adult body length approaching 20 metres. As an expansive browser, it played a central role in its local terrestrial ecosystem alongside ornithopods and theropods, shedding light on the transitional anatomical phases occurring between primitive titanosauriforms and true titanosaurs in eastern Asia.

It represents an early titanosauriform that retained primitive, non-procoelous anterior tail vertebrae.

Where and when

Gobititan lived in the Early Cretaceous, from 113 to 100.5 million years ago (Albian age). Its remains come from China, in the Xinminpu Group.

The numbers

Length 19 m (estimates run from 18 to 20 m). Mass about 19 t. Hip height about 4.5 m. That is 11.2 human-lengths, or 1.7 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 Gobititan with a bus Place on the timeline