Open Paleo

Lohuecotitan

Díez Díaz et al., 2016 loh-HWAY-co-TIE-tuhn

Named for Lo Hueco, the fossil site in Spain where it was discovered, combined with Greek 'titan' meaning 'giant'.

83.6–66.0 million years ago Campanian–Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Lohuecotitan is an extinct genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur which lived during the Late Cretaceous in Spain. The only species known in the genus is Lohuecotitan pandafilandi, described and named in 2016.

Under dispute

Placed within Lithostrotia as incertae sedis. The describing analysis (Díez Díaz and colleagues, 2016) recovered Lohuecotitan only as an indeterminate derived lithostrotian in a polytomy, and later work recovers it as a basal lithostrotian (Díez Díaz and colleagues, 2018). It is placed at Lithostrotia pending resolution.

Diagnosis

  1. Posterior centrodiapophyseal lamina dorsally and ventrally widened or bifurcated in anterior and middle dorsal vertebrae
  2. Short postspinal lamina with transversely expanded distal end represented by smooth scars in dorsal vertebrae
  3. Anteriormost caudal vertebrae with medial spinoprezygapophyseal and medial spinopostzygapophyseal laminae ventrally connected with prespinal and postspinal laminae
  4. Anterior caudal neural spines with dorsal projection of prespinal and postspinal laminae, resulting in V-shaped outline in lateral view
  5. Anterior caudal neural spines bearing greek-cross-like cross-section
  6. Middle caudal vertebrae with two rough structures in dorsal edge of posterior articulation extending to dorsal surface of centrum
  7. Articular ends of posterior haemal arch rami fully divided in two articular facets
  8. Tuberosity between anterior and lateral trochanter of fibula

Species

Lohuecotitan pandafilandi Díez Díaz et al., 2016

Type species

Named for Pandafilando de la fosca vista, a fictional giant in Miguel de Cervantes' novel Don Quixote, in genitive form 'pandafilandi'.

Holotype
HUE-EC-01 , Museo de las Ciencias de Castilla-La Mancha
Material
Partial skeleton comprising cervical, dorsal, sacral and caudal vertebrae, haemal arches, ulna, ischia, pubis, femur, fibula, tibia, and ribs
Horizon
upper G1 Bed, Villalba de la Sierra Formation, Campanian–Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–66.0 million years ago
Locality
Lo Hueco, Fuentes, Cuenca, Spain

References

  1. Díez Díaz, V.; Mocho, P.; Páramo, A.; Escaso, F.; Marcos-Fernández, F.; Sanz, J. L.; Ortega, F. (2016). A new titanosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Lo Hueco (Cuenca, Spain). Cretaceous Research 68: 49-60. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2016.08.001 díezdíaz2016a
  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. Díez Díaz, V.; Garcia, G.; Pereda-Suberbiola, X.; Jentgen-Ceschino, B.; Stein, K.; Godefroit, P.; Valentin, X. (2018). The titanosaurian dinosaur Atsinganosaurus velauciensis (Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of southern France. New material, phylogenetic affinities, and palaeobiogeographical implications. Cretaceous Research 91: 429-456. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.06.015

    Study of Atsinganosaurus recovered Lohuecotitan as a basal lithostrotian, contributing to its unstable placement.

    díezdíaz2018a