Open Paleo

Khebbashia

Fanti et al., 2015

Its genera lived 125.8–89.8 million years ago Early Cretaceous–Late Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous and Late Cretaceous stages

Khebbashia is a node-based clade of rebbachisaurid sauropods that unites the two most derived subfamilies, Limaysaurinae and Rebbachisaurinae, to the exclusion of the more basal rebbachisaurid forms. It is defined as the least inclusive clade containing Limaysaurus tessonei, Nigersaurus taqueti, and Rebbachisaurus garasbae, and the node-based framing keeps it distinct from the stem-based family Rebbachisauridae. Its members were medium-sized sauropods that lived during the Early Cretaceous of South America, Africa, and Europe. These were among the most specialized rebbachisaurids, notable for highly modified feeding apparatus, with broad batteries of closely packed teeth and slender limb proportions.

Under dispute

Khebbashia, the clade containing Limaysaurinae and Rebbachisaurinae, is recovered or used across recent analyses (Fanti and colleagues, 2015; Canudo and colleagues, 2018; Lerzo and colleagues, 2025), and Simón and Salgado (2025) recover it as the sister of Lavocatisaurus. Its monophyly is not densely tested in every study: Bellardini and colleagues (2025) place Astigmasaura outside it and resolve only Limaysaurinae within it. The node is retained on the weight of current usage.

Clades within Khebbashia

References

  1. Fanti, F.; Cau, A.; Cantelli, L.; Hassine, M.; Auditore, M. (2015). New information on Tataouinea hannibalis from the Early Cretaceous of Tunisia and implications for the tempo and mode of rebbachisaurid sauropod evolution. PLOS ONE 10(4): e0123475. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0123475

    Erected the clade Khebbashia for Limaysaurinae plus Rebbachisaurinae.

    fanti2015a
  2. Bellardini, F.; Filippi, L. S.; Carballido, J. L.; Garrido, A. C.; Baiano, M. A. (2025). Side by side with titans: A new rebbachisaurid dinosaur from the Huincul Formation (upper Cenomanian) of Patagonia, Argentina. Cretaceous Research 176. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106188

    Treated Khebbashia as the clade of Limaysaurinae and Rebbachisaurinae, placed Astigmasaura outside it, and resolved only Limaysaurinae within it.

    bellardini2025a
  3. Simón, M. E.; Salgado, L. (2025). New rebbachisaurid (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Huincul Formation (upper Cenomanian-Turonian) of Villa El Chocón (Neuquén Province, Argentina). Cretaceous Research 173. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2025.106137

    Recovered Khebbashia as a monophyletic clade, sister to Lavocatisaurus.

    simón2025a
  4. Lerzo, L. N.; Gallina, P. A.; Canale, J. I.; Otero, A.; Carballido, J. L.; Apesteguía, S.; Makovicky, P. J. (2025). The last of the oldies: a basal rebbachisaurid (Sauropoda, Diplodocoidea) from the early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Turonian) of Patagonia, Argentina. Historical Biology 37(2): 208-233. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/08912963.2023.2297914

    Recovered Khebbashia as a monophyletic clade uniting the rebbachisaurid subfamilies.

    lerzo2025a
  5. Canudo, J.; Carballido, J.; Salgado, L.; Garrido, A. (2018). A new rebbachisaurid sauropod from the Aptian-Albian, Lower Cretaceous Rayoso Formation, Neuquén, Argentina. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 63. Polska Akademia Nauk Instytut Paleobiologii (Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences). doi:10.4202/app.00524.2018

    Phylogenetic analysis placed Lavocatisaurus as sister to Khebbashia, i.e. Limaysaurinae plus Rebbachisaurinae

    canudo2018a
  6. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Treats Khebbashia as a clade forking into two subfamilies, reviewing the genera placed inside it or just outside it.

    jones2026b