Dino card No. 0938 of 2,027

Kaijutitan

Say it: KAI-joo-tie-tan

Name means: “Kaiju titan, after the Japanese word for strange beast or monster”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksLate Cretaceous

Kaijutitan was a giant, long-necked plant-eater that lived in what is now Argentina. It is one of the earliest known titanosaurs, a group that includes the biggest dinosaurs ever. Its neck bones had a strange split shape, like a fork.4 2

Lived

90 to 86 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Cañadón Mistringa, about 9 km southwest of Rincón de los Sauces, Neuquén Province, Argentina1 2

Food

Plants4

Weight

38 tonnes to 60.398 tonnes2

estimate based on comparison with Giraffatitan and Notocolossus

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 10 elephants

as heavy as 12000 watermelons

How big was Kaijutitan compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Kaijutitan is the latest known basal titanosaur, meaning it lived near the end of the time when early titanosaurs existed.2

Its neck vertebrae had bifid (split) neural spines, a feature that evolved several times among sauropods but is rare in titanosaurs.2

The fossil includes part of the skull, which is very unusual for large titanosaurs because their skulls are rarely preserved.2

Kaijutitan lived about 89 to 86 million years ago, during the Coniacian stage of the Late Cretaceous.4

Its bones were found scattered in an area of about 20 square metres, suggesting the carcass fell apart before being buried.2

The species name maui honors the Museo Municipal Argentino Urquiza (MAU), where the fossil is stored.1

AI-made picture of Kaijutitan — An AI-made picture of how Kaijutitan might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Kaijutitan

?How big was Kaijutitan?

Scientists don't know its exact size yet, but it was a huge sauropod, one of the giant titanosaurs. Its bones show it was an adult of huge body size.3 1

?What did Kaijutitan eat?

Kaijutitan was a plant-eater, like all sauropods. It used its long neck to reach leaves from tall trees.1

?Why did Kaijutitan have a split neck spine?

The split (bifid) neural spines on its neck vertebrae are a rare feature in titanosaurs. Scientists think it evolved several times in different sauropod groups, but its exact purpose is not known.1 2

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Kaijutitan
Named by: Filippi et al. 20194
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Lithostrotia4
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Titanosauria > Macronaria4
Age of the rocks: 90 to 86 million years (Coniacian)4
Rock formations: Sierra Barrosa4
Countries: Argentina4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Kaijutitan was named in 2019 by paleontologists Leonardo Filippi, Leonardo Salgado, and Alberto Garrido. The skeleton was found by a team from the Museo Municipal Argentino Urquiza and the Museo Provincial de Ciencias Naturales in Argentina.4 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how big Kaijutitan was, because only a partial skeleton has been found.2

Where the facts come from

Kaijutitan (en.wikipedia.org)
A new giant basal titanosaur sauropod in the Upper Cretaceous (Coniacian) of the NeuquEn Basin, Argentina (rid.unrn.edu.ar)
KAIJUTITAN MAUI, A SAUROPOD TITANOSAUR FROM THE UPPER CRETACEOUS (SIERRA BARROSA FORMATION, NEUQUÉN BASIN) OF NORTHERN PATAGONIA ARGENTINA: HISTOLOGICAL AND TAPHONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS | Publicación Electrónica de la Asociación Paleontológica Argentina (peapaleontologica.org.ar)
Kaijutitan in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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