Angolatitan
Sign in to saveAngolatitan (meaning "Angolan giant") is a genus of titanosauriform sauropod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous. It is also the first non-avian dinosaur discovered in Angola. The genus contains a single species, Angolatitan adamastor, known from a partial right forelimb. Angolatitan was a relict form of its time; it was a Late Cretaceous basal titanosauriform, when more derived titanosaurs were far more common.
Article
5 sectionsContents
- Discovery and naming
- Description
- Classification
- Palaeoecology
- References
Angolatitan (meaning "Angolan giant") is a genus of titanosauriform sauropod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous. It is also the first non-avian dinosaur discovered in Angola. The genus contains a single species, Angolatitan adamastor, known from a partial right forelimb. Angolatitan was a relict form of its time; it was a Late Cretaceous basal titanosauriform, when more derived titanosaurs were far more common.
==Discovery and naming== left|thumb|210x210px|Cast of Holotype|holotypic right humerus, [[National Museum of Natural History]] During the Angolan Civil War, palaeontological field research was not possible in Angola. After the civil war ended in 2002, the PaleoAngola project planned the first Angolan palaeontological expeditions since the 1960s. The first of these expeditions started in 2005 to explore Angola's fossil rich upper Cretaceous rocks, leading to the discovery of Angolatitan. The discovery was made by Octávio Mateus on May the 25 near Iembe in the province of Bengo, and excavations were conducted during May and August 2006.