Garrigatitan

Garrigatitan (meaning "garrigue giant", referring to a type of Mediterranean vegetation characterized by drought-resistant shrubs) is a genus of titanosaurian dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period of the Grès à Reptiles Formation in France. The genus contains a single species, Garrigatitan meridionalis. The subadult length is estimated to be 4–6 metres (13–20 ft), while the adult length is estimated at around 12–16 metres (39–52 ft).[1]

Garrigatitan
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 74–70 Ma
↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Suborder: †Sauropodomorpha
Clade: †Sauropoda
Clade: †Eusauropoda
Clade: †Neosauropoda
Clade: †Macronaria
Clade: †Titanosauria
Clade: †Lithostrotia
Clade: †Lirainosaurinae
Genus: †Garrigatitan
Díaz et al., 2020
Species:
†G. meridionalis
Binomial name
†Garrigatitan meridionalis
Díaz et al., 2020

Discovery and naming

Between 2009 and 2012, excavations were carried out at Velaux-La Bastide Neuve by the Palaios Association and the University of Poitiers. During the excavations, the holotype of Garrigatitan was discovered and remains of Atsinganosaurus velauciensis were also present.[2]

In 2020, the type species Garrigatitan meridionalis was named and described by Verónica Díez Díaz, Géraldine Garcia, Xabier Pereda Suberbiola, Benjamin Jentgen-Ceschino, Koen Stein, Pascal Godefroit and Xavier Valentin. The holotype, MMS / VBN.09.17, was found in a layer of sandstone of the Begudian, the second level of the second series, dating back to the late Campanian. It consists of a sacrum belonging to an immature individual.[1]

In addition, a number of other fossils have been assigned to the species. This concerns the specimens MMS / VBN.02.99: a cervical vertebra; MMS / VBN.09.A.016 and MMS / VBN.09.47: two humeri; MMS / VBN.12B.12a: a left ilium and MMS / VBN.12B.12b: a right ischial bone. Furthermore, fossils were allocated with reservation. They were the specimens MMS / VBN.12B.011: a neural spine; MMS / VBN.12.82: a right humerus; MMS.VBN.09.A.017: part of the right leg and MMS / VBN.00.13: a left femur. The assigned specimens come from the third level of the second series. The fossils were found in a lens with an area of 375 square meters and a thickness of 1.2 metres (3.9 ft). They were not associated and presumably represent different individuals and they are all part of the Moulin Seigneurial de Velaux collection.[1]

Etymology

The genus name is a combination of the Occitan garriga, "dry thicket", and the Greek "titan", a member of a mythological family of giants. The species epithet meridonalis means "southern" in Latin.[1]

References
  1. Díez Díaz, Verónica; Garcia, Géraldine; Pereda Suberbiola, Xabier; Jentgen-Ceschino, Benjamin; Stein, Koen; Godefroit, Pascal; Valentin, Xavier (2020-12-21). "A new titanosaur (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Velaux-La-Bastide Neuve (southern France)". Historical Biology: 1–20. doi:10.1080/08912963.2020.1841184. ISSN 0891-2963.
  2. B. Vila; A. Galobart; J.U. Canudo; J. Le Loeff; et al. (2012). "The diversity of sauropod dinosaurs and their first taxonomic succession from the latest Cretaceous of southwestern Europe: Clues to demise and extinction". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 350–352 (15): 19–38. Bibcode:2012PPP...350...19V. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.06.008.


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