Open Paleo

Dzharatitanis

Averianov & Sues, 2021 jah-ruh-tie-tan-iss

From Dzharakuduk (the type locality in Uzbekistan) + Greek titan (giant): 'Dzharakuduk titan'.

93.9–89.8 million years ago Turonian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Dzharatitanis is an extinct genus of probable titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Turonian age) Bissekty Formation of Uzbekistan. The genus contains a single species, Dzharatitanis kingi, known from a single tail vertebra. Dzharatitanis was considered to be a member of the Rebbachisauridae when it was named in 2021, but subsequent research has considered it to be a titanosaur.

Under dispute

Dzharatitanis was described as a rebbachisaurid diplodocoid, the first reported from Asia (Averianov and Sues, 2021), a placement followed by Jones (2026); but Lerzo, Carballido and Gallina (2021) rescored the holotype and argued it is instead a titanosaur, recovered as a lognkosaurian only under their preferred scoring of the single caudal vertebra. The rebbachisaurid versus titanosaur conflict, resting on one vertebra, remains unresolved.

Diagnosis

  1. Slightly opisthocoelous centrum with convex anterior articular surface and no pleurocoel
  2. 'Wing-like' transverse process (not distally tapering) with dorsally directed ventral surface
  3. Large but shallow PRCDF on anterior face of transverse process
  4. Absence of hyposphenal ridge and absence of TPRL and TPOL
  5. Large SPDL on lateral side of neural spine, separated from both SPRL and SPOL
  6. Apex of neural spine transversely expanded bearing distinct triangular lateral processes; neural spine pneumatized internally

Species

Dzharatitanis kingi Averianov & Sues, 2021

Type species

Named for Christopher King, a geologist who studied the Cretaceous rock layers of Central Asia.

Holotype
USNM 538127 , National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
Material
Nearly complete anterior caudal vertebra (first caudal), lacking the left transverse process.
Horizon
Bissekty Formation, Turonian, Late Cretaceous , 93.9–89.8 million years ago
Locality
Dzharakuduk, Navoiy, Uzbekistan

References

  1. Averianov, A.; Sues, H. D. (2021). First rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaur from Asia. PLOS ONE 16(2): e0246620. Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0246620

    Describing paper; recovered Dzharatitanis as a rebbachisaurid, the first reported from Asia.

    averianov2021b
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length, mass, and hip height estimates.

    jones2026b
  3. Lerzo, L. N.; Carballido, J. L.; Gallina, P. A. (2021). Rebbachisaurid sauropods in Asia? A re-evaluation of the phylogenetic position of Dzharatitanis kingi from the Late Cretaceous of Uzbekistan. Publicación Electrónica de la Asociación Paleontológica Argentina 21(1): 18-27. doi:10.5710/PEAPA.24.03.2021.389

    Rescored the holotype and argued Dzharatitanis is a titanosaur, not a rebbachisaurid; a lognkosaurian position was recovered only under their preferred (anterior-caudal) scoring.

    lerzo2021a
  4. Sues, H. D.; Averianov, A.; Ridgely, R. C.; Witmer, L. M. (2015). Titanosauria (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous (Turonian) Bissekty Formation of Uzbekistan. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 35(1): e889145. doi:10.1080/02724634.2014.889145

    Original description of the holotype as indeterminate titanosaurian material, giving its locality as Dzharakuduk without a numbered site.

    sues2015a