Open Paleo

Liaoningotitan

Zhou et al., 2018 lee-YOW-ning-o-TIE-tuhn

Named after Liaoning Province, China combined with Greek titan (giant); meaning "Liaoning giant"

125.8–121.4 million years ago Barremian, Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous stages

Liaoningotitan is a genus of titanosauriform sauropod from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian) Yixian Formation in Liaoning, China. A redescription of the holotype proposed affinities of Liaoningotitan with the Euhelopodidae.

Under dispute

Liaoningotitan was redescribed as a euhelopodid, recovered as the sister taxon of Yongjinglong (Shan and colleagues, 2025), although Jones (2026) treats it as an unstable basal somphospondylan.

Diagnosis

  1. Premaxilla and maxilla resembling early-diverging Titanosauriformes while the quadratojugal resembles late-diverging Titanosauriformes (mosaic skull evolution).
  2. Anterior side of the jugal aligned with the anterior margin of the antorbital fenestra (autapomorphy).
  3. Obtuse angle between the horizontal and ascending branches of the quadratojugal (autapomorphy).
  4. Shallow fossa in the posterior part of the neural spine of a dorsal vertebra (new autapomorphy).
  5. Middle caudal vertebrae procoelous (autapomorphy).
  6. Attachment point of the coracobrachialis muscle on the anterior surface of the proximal humerus flat rather than concave (new autapomorphy).
  7. Posterior dorsal neural spine unbifurcated; dorsal lateral pneumatic foramen shallow; second cnemial crest of the tibia absent.

Species

Liaoningotitan sinensis Zhou et al., 2018

Type species

From Latin 'sinensis' meaning 'from China', referring to the country where the holotype was found.

Holotype
PMOL-AD00112 , Paleontological Museum of Liaoning
Material
Skull and mandible, one cervical, two dorsal, three sacral (S1-S3), and middle-posterior caudal vertebrae, left scapula, both humeri, left radius and ulna, right manus, pelvis (ilium, pubis, ischium), right femur, tibia, and fibula, and right pes; many elements partly obscured by gypsum.
Horizon
Jianshangou Member, Yixian Formation, Barremian, Early Cretaceous , 125.8–121.4 million years ago
Locality
Xiaobeigou Village, Liaoning, China

References

  1. Zhou, C. F.; Wu, W. H.; Sekiya, T.; Dong, Z. M. (2018). A new Titanosauriformes dinosaur from Jehol Biota of western Liaoning, China. Global Geology 37(2): 327-333. doi:10.3969/j.issn.1004-5589.2018.02.001 zhou2018a
  2. Shan, B. (2025). The re-description of Liaoningotitan sinensis Zhou et al., 2018. PeerJ 13: e19154. PeerJ. doi:10.7717/peerj.19154

    Comprehensive redescription of the holotype PMOL-AD00112; identifies two new autapomorphies and places Liaoningotitan in Euhelopodidae, sister to Yongjinglong.

    shan2025a
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the mass and hip height estimates, and the appearance features.

    jones2026b