Sunday, December 13, 2015

The Giving of December. Fukuititan

    Fukuititan is the first ever sauropod dinosaur known to have lived in what is now Japan.‭ ‬The holotype individual of Fukuititan seems to have been fairly small in terms of overall sauropod sizes,‭ ‬and may be a reflection of living upon a smaller land mass.‭ ‬Based upon similarity between the caudal‭ (‬tail‭) ‬vertebrae,‭ ‬Fukuititan has been considered as possibly being related to Borealosaurus from China,‭ ‬which in turn has been considered as a potential relative of Opisthocoelicaudia.
       Fukuititan translates as‭ ‘‬Fukui titan‭’ ‬a combination of being named after Fukui prefecture and the Ancient Greek titan which is commonly used for naming sauropod dinosaurs of the titanosaurid lineage.‭ ‬The species name nipponensis more simply means‭ ‘‬from Japan‭’‬.‭ ‬Fukuititan likely shared the same habitat as other dinosaurs such as the hadrosaur Fukuisaurus and the megaraptoran theropod‭ ‬Fukuiraptor,‭ ‬while remains of Psittacosaurus also seem to be within the formation.‭ ‬Aside from these more derived fossils,‭ ‬indeterminate fossils of dromaeosaurs,‭ ‬other sauropods and ornithopod dinosaurs are also known,‭ ‬as well as dinosaur eggs and track‭ ‬ways of various kinds of dinosaurs.

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