Rukwatitan

Rukwatitan
Temporal range: Middle Cretaceous, 100 Ma
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Holotype humerus in anterior view with scale bar
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: †Sauropodomorpha
Clade: †Sauropoda
Clade: †Macronaria
Clade: †Titanosauria
Clade: †Lithostrotia
Genus: †Rukwatitan
Gorscak et al., 2014
Type species
†Rukwatitan bisepultus
Gorscak et al., 2014

Rukwatitan is a genus of titanosaur sauropod dinosaur from the Galula Formation in Tanzania. It lived around 100 million years ago, during the middle Cretaceous.[1][2] The species, which shared features with another southern African species, Malawisaurus dixeyi, measured 30 feet (9.1 m) from the head to the tip of the tail,[3] and had forelimbs that were estimated around 6.5 feet (2.0 m) long. Its fossils were found embedded in a cliff face near Lake Rukwa in the Rukwa Valley, from which it gets its name.[4][5]

  1. ^ Gorscak, Eric; O'Connor, Patrick M.; Stevens, Nancy J.; Roberts, Eric M. (2014). "The basal titanosaurian Rukwatitan bisepultus (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the middle Cretaceous Galula Formation, Rukwa Rift Basin, southwestern Tanzania". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 34 (5): 1133–1154. Bibcode:2014JVPal..34.1133G. doi:10.1080/02724634.2014.845568.
  2. ^ Eric Gorscak. "Ohio University paleontologists discover new species of titanosaurian dinosaur in Tanzania". Ohio: Research. Ohio University. Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  3. ^ Ryan Grenoble (10 September 2014). "New Species Of Massive Dinosaur Discovered In Africa". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  4. ^ Agata Blaszczak-Boxe/ (8 September 2014). "New dinosaur species a rare find in Africa". CBS News. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  5. ^ Jennifer Viegas (8 September 2014). "Another Massive New Dinosaur Found, This Time in Africa". Discovery Channel. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2014.