Open Paleo

Fukuititan

Azuma & Shibata, 2010 foo-KOO-ee-TIE-tuhn

From Fukui (Fukui Prefecture, Japan, where it was found) + Greek titan (giant): 'giant from Fukui prefecture'.

121.4–113.2 million years ago Aptian, Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous stages

Fukuititan is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous (either Barremian or Aptian age) in the Kitadani Formation in what is now Japan. The genus contains a single species, Fukuititan nipponensis. The discovery of Fukuititan shed light on Japanese titanosauriforms, which are generally very poorly-known.

Diagnosis

  1. Elongated asymmetric tooth crown with a weak or absent labial groove and without lingual concavity
  2. Epipophysis of the cervical vertebra well-developed and stalk-like
  3. Transverse width of the proximal end of the humerus approximately 32% of humerus length
  4. Metacarpal length approximately 48% of radius length
  5. Distal end of the ischia slightly expanded

Species

Fukuititan nipponensis Azuma & Shibata, 2010

Type species

From Latin 'nipponensis' meaning 'from Japan', after Nippon, a name for Japan, where the holotype was discovered.

Holotype
FPDM-V8468 , Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum
Material
Associated incomplete skeleton: three teeth, two partial cervical neural arches, three distal caudal vertebrae, partial left scapula, both humeri, two nearly complete radii, right metacarpal, both ischia, partial right femur, partial right tibia, one complete left fibula, pedal phalanx
Horizon
Bonebed II Bed, Kitadani Formation, Aptian, Early Cretaceous , 121.4–113.2 million years ago
Locality
Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry, Fukui, Japan The holotype came from Bonebed II, about 10 m above Bonebed I among four informally numbered levels Shibata and Azuma (2015) recognize at the quarry. The coordinate is the quarry's, given to the second by Azuma and colleagues (2016); earlier papers state it only to the minute.

References

  1. Azuma, Y.; Shibata, M. (2010). Fukuititan nipponensis, A New Titanosauriform Sauropod from the Early Cretaceous Tetori Group of Fukui Prefecture, Japan. Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition) 84(3): 454-462. Wiley. doi:10.1111/j.1755-6724.2010.00268.x azuma2010a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate, and the appearance features.

    jones2026b
  3. Azuma, Y.; Xu, X.; Shibata, M.; Kawabe, S.; Miyata, K.; Imai, T. (2016). A bizarre theropod from the Early Cretaceous of Japan highlighting mosaic evolution among coelurosaurians. Scientific Reports 6(1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/srep20478

    Prints the Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry coordinate to the second.

    azuma2016a
  4. Shibata, M.; Azuma, Y. (2015). New basal hadrosauroid (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the Lower Cretaceous Kitadani Formation, Fukui, central Japan. Zootaxa 3914(4). Magnolia Press. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3914.4.3 shibata2015b