Australotitan
Australotitan () is an extinct genus of possibly titanosaurian somphospondylan dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous Winton Formation (Cenomanian–Turonian) of southern-central Queensland, Australia. The genus contains a single species, A. cooperensis, known from multiple partial skeletons. The genus Australotitan may be synonymous with Diamantinasaurus, a contemporary relative.
Article
4 sectionsContents
- Discovery and naming
- Description
- Classification
- References
Australotitan () is an extinct genus of possibly titanosaurian somphospondylan dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous Winton Formation (Cenomanian–Turonian) of southern-central Queensland, Australia. The genus contains a single species, A. cooperensis, known from multiple partial skeletons. The genus Australotitan may be synonymous with Diamantinasaurus, a contemporary relative.
== Discovery and naming == thumb|3D restorations of Australotitan holotype material|left|275x275pxAustralotitan was discovered in 2005 in layers of the Winton Formation in southwest Queensland, Australia, near the town of Eromanga. Sandy Mackenzie, the discoverer, had already collected other bones on the land of his parents in 2004. The fossil material was then prepared and excavated in conjunction with the Queensland Museum and the Eromanga Natural History Museum between November 2005 and April 2010. It was nicknamed "Cooper" after its discovery, being from the Cooper-Eromanga Basin, Cooper Creek system, "the Cooper Country".