Open Paleo

Wintonotitan

Hocknull et al., 2009 win-TON-o-TIE-tan

Named after Winton, Queensland, Australia (the area where it was found, associated with the Winton Formation), combined with Greek titan meaning 'giant'; translates as 'Winton titan'

100.5–89.8 million years ago Cenomanian–Turonian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Wintonotitan is a genus of titanosauriform dinosaur from the Cenomanian-aged (Late Cretaceous) Winton Formation of Australia. It is known from partial postcranial remains.

Under dispute

Wintonotitan is recovered as a non-titanosaurian somphospondylan outside Diamantinasauria by most analyses (Poropat and colleagues, 2014, 2015, 2023; Moore and colleagues, 2020; Mayer and colleagues, 2026). Beeston and colleagues (2024) instead recover it within Diamantinasauria, a result Shan (2025) repeats on their matrix.

Diagnosis

  1. Unbifurcated middle to posterior dorsal neural spine summit with a rounded median ridge linking the pre- and postspinal laminae
  2. Anterior and anterior-middle caudal centra with a horizontal ridge at about mid-height projecting as far laterally as the articular surfaces
  3. Anterior chevrons whose proximal articular ends are anteroposteriorly narrower in lateral view than the proximal rami at mid-height of the haemal canal
  4. Scapular blade with a fossa on the medial surface close to the acromion-blade junction
  5. Radius with a subcircular proximal end bearing a medially directed projection
  6. Metacarpus with a deep fossa on the proximal surface at the intersection of metacarpals I, II and III
  7. Metacarpal III with the distal end more transversely expanded than the proximal end
  8. Metacarpal IV with a medially projecting bulge on the dorsal surface near mid-shaft

Species

Wintonotitan wattsi Hocknull et al., 2009

Type species

Named for Keith Watts, who first discovered the holotype fossils near Winton, Queensland, Australia, in 1974.

Holotype
QM F7292 , Queensland Museum, Centre for Biodiversity
Material
Partial postcranial skeleton with a fragmentary dorsal centrum and three neural arches, dorsal rib fragments, two coossified sacral vertebrae, 25 caudal vertebrae, five chevrons, an incomplete left scapula, both humeri and ulnae, both radii, the left metacarpus, a partial left ilium and the left ischium
Horizon
lower Winton Formation, Cenomanian–Turonian, Late Cretaceous , 100.5–89.8 million years ago
Locality
Triangle Paddock, Elderslie Station, Queensland, Australia The type locality is registered as Queensland Museum locality QM L313, the Triangle Paddock Site on Elderslie Sheep Station, about 60 km north-west of Winton and west of the Cork Fault. The coordinates are those of Beeston and colleagues (2024).

References

  1. Hocknull, S. A.; White, M. A.; Tischler, T. R.; Cook, A. G.; Calleja, N. D.; Sloan, T.; Elliott, D. A. (2009). New Mid-Cretaceous (Latest Albian) Dinosaurs from Winton, Queensland, Australia. PLoS ONE 4(7): e6190. Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0006190

    Named Wintonotitan and recovered it as a basal titanosauriform.

    hocknull2009a
  2. Paul, G. S. (2024). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (3rd ed.). Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length and mass estimates.

    paul2024a
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate.

    jones2026b
  4. Poropat, S. F.; Upchurch, P.; Mannion, P. D.; Hocknull, S. A.; Kear, B. P.; Sloan, T.; Sinapius, G. H. K.; Elliot, D. A. (2014). Revision of the sauropod dinosaur Diamantinasaurus matildae Hocknull et al. 2009 from the mid-Cretaceous of Australia: Implications for Gondwanan titanosauriform dispersal. Gondwana Research 27(3): 995-1033. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2014.03.014

    Revised Diamantinasaurus and recovered Wintonotitan as a non-titanosaurian somphospondylan outside Diamantinasauria

    poropat2014a
  5. Beeston, S. L.; Poropat, S. F.; Mannion, P. D.; Pentland, A. H.; Enchelmaier, M. J.; Sloan, T.; Elliott, D. A. (2024). Reappraisal of sauropod dinosaur diversity in the Upper Cretaceous Winton Formation of Queensland, Australia, through 3D digitisation and description of new specimens. PeerJ 12: e17180. PeerJ. doi:10.7717/peerj.17180

    Recovered Wintonotitan as a member of Diamantinasauria.

    beeston2024a
  6. Poropat, S. F.; Mannion, P. D.; Upchurch, P.; Hocknull, S. A.; Kear, B. P.; Elliott, D. A. (2015). Reassessment of the non-titanosaurian somphospondylan Wintonotitan wattsi (Dinosauria: Sauropoda: Titanosauriformes) from the mid-Cretaceous Winton Formation, Queensland, Australia. Papers in Palaeontology 1(1): 59-106. Wiley. doi:10.1002/spp2.1004

    Osteological redescription. Replaces the original diagnosis with eight autapomorphies, keeps the genus outside Diamantinasauria, and shows the reported osteoderms to be its own neural spines.

    poropat2015a
  7. Poropat, S. F.; Mannion, P. D.; Rigby, S. L.; Duncan, R. J.; Pentland, A. H.; Bevitt, J. J.; Sloan, T.; Elliott, D. A. (2023). A nearly complete skull of the sauropod dinosaur Diamantinasaurus matildae from the Upper Cretaceous Winton Formation of Australia and implications for the early evolution of titanosaurs. Royal Society Open Science 10(4): 221618. doi:10.1098/rsos.221618

    Recovered Wintonotitan outside Diamantinasauria and Titanosauria.

    poropat2023a
  8. Moore, A. J.; Upchurch, P.; Barrett, P. M.; Clark, J. M.; Xu, X. (2020). Osteology of Klamelisaurus gobiensis (Dinosauria, Eusauropoda) and the evolutionary history of Middle-Late Jurassic Chinese sauropods. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 18(16): 1299-1393. doi:10.1080/14772019.2020.1759706

    Recovered Wintonotitan outside Titanosauria, with Chubutisaurus and Angolatitan.

    moore2020a
  9. Mayer, E. L.; Silva Junior, J. C. G.; Kerber, L.; Navarro, B. A.; Bandeira, K. L. N.; Cisneros, J. C.; Sousa, E. P.; Pereira, A. A.; Medeiros, M. A.; Lindoso, R. M.; Cavalcanti Neto, F. P.; Ghilardi, A. M.; Aureliano, T.; Godoy, P. L.; Ferreira, G. S.; Langer, M. C. (2026). A new titanosauriform with European affinities in the Early Cretaceous of Brazil: insights on Somphospondyli phylogeny, histology and biogeography. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 24: 2601579. Taylor & Francis. doi:10.1080/14772019.2025.2601579

    Recovered Wintonotitan outside Diamantinasauria.

    mayer2026a
  10. Shan, B. (2025). The re-description of Liaoningotitan sinensis Zhou et al., 2018. PeerJ 13: e19154. PeerJ. doi:10.7717/peerj.19154

    Recovered Wintonotitan within Diamantinasauria, on the matrix of Beeston and colleagues (2024).

    shan2025a