Paralititan
| Paralititan Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
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|---|---|
| Humeri (upper arm bones) of Paralititan at the Egyptian Geological Museum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Macronaria |
| Clade: | †Titanosauria |
| Clade: | †Lithostrotia |
| Genus: | †Paralititan Smith et al., 2001 |
| Species: | †P. stromeri
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| Binomial name | |
| †Paralititan stromeri Smith et al., 2001
| |
Paralititan (meaning "tidal giant") is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in present-day Egypt during the Late Cretaceous period. It was described by American paleontologist Joshua B. Smith and colleagues in 2001. The genus contains a single species, Paralititan stromeri, named based on a fragmentary skeleton including vertebrae and limb bones. These fossils were unearthed by an American expedition to the Bahariya Oasis in western Egypt in rock layers of the Bahariya Formation. This formation dates to the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous, which lasted 101 to 94 million years ago. An incomplete dorsal (back) vertebra that had been described by German paleontologist Ernst Stromer in 1932 was also assigned to Paralititan. However, this vertebra had been destroyed during the Bombing of Munich in World War II.
Like other sauropods, Paralititan was a four-legged herbivore with a long neck ending in a small head. It was at one point considered one of the largest dinosaurs known. More recent estimates place it at 27 meters (89 feet) in length and 30 tonnes (33 short tons) in mass. This would make it a large sauropod, but not as huge as genera like Argentinosaurus and Puertasaurus. Its robust humerus (upper arm bone) is 1.69 meters (5.5 feet) in length and bears a large deltopectoral crest (a forward directed bony flange). The caudal (tail) vertebrae are wider than tall and lack pleurocoels (large cavities that stored air sacs) on their sides.
Paralititan is a member of the Saltasauridae, a family within the sauropod group Titanosauria. Some saltasaurids, including Saltasaurus itself, preserve dorsal osteoderms (bones formed in the skin), though such bones are unknown for Paralititan. Paralititan coexisted with other dinosaurs such as the sauropod Aegyptosaurus, the theropods Tameryraptor, Spinosaurus, and Bahariasaurus, and an unnamed abelisaurid theropod. During the Cenomanian, the Bahariya Formation was on the margin of the Tethys Sea, and represented a large network of mangrove swamps, rivers, and tidal flats.