Ninjatitan
Ninjatitan (meaning "Ninja giant") is a genus of titanosaur sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Berriasian-Valanginian)-aged Bajada Colorada Formation of Argentina. It is the oldest titanosaur known to date and the type species N. zapatai was named and described in 2021.[1] Its generic name comes from a nickname of Argentine palaeontologist Sebastian Apesteguia, and the specific name comes from technician Rogelio Zapata.[2] It is known from postcranial remains discovered in 2014.[3][4]
| Ninjatitan Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Macronaria |
| Clade: | †Titanosauria |
| Genus: | †Ninjatitan Gallina, Canale, & Carballido, 2021 |
| Species: | †N. zapatai |
| Binomial name | |
| †Ninjatitan zapatai Gallina, Canale, & Carballido, 2021 | |
Classification
Ninjatitan does not preserve any unanimous features that classify it as a somphospondylan, but it does bear features that suggest it can be included within the clade Titanosauria, either as a basal taxon or possibly within the clade Colossosauria. The phylogenetic results of Gallina and colleagues are shown below, where Ninjatitan was suggested to have multiple possible positions.[1]
| Titanosauria |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References
- Gallina, P. A.; Canale, J. I.; Carballido, J. L. (2021). "The Earliest Known Titanosaur Sauropod Dinosaur". Ameghiniana. 58 (1): 35–51. doi:10.5710/AMGH.20.08.2020.3376.
- France-Presse, Agence (March 1, 2021). "Colossal titanosaur found in Argentina could be the oldest example ever found, say scientists". South China Morning Post.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "Científicos argentinos hallaron el titanosaurio más antiguo a nivel mundial". www.ambito.com. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
- Monday, 01 Mar 2021 07:32 AM MYT. "Study: Argentine titanosaur may be oldest yet | Malay Mail". www.malaymail.com. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
