Dino card No. 1944 of 2,027

Xinjiangtitan

Say it: SHIN-jyang-tee-tan

Name means: “giant from Xinjiang”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksMiddle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous

Xinjiangtitan was a gigantic, long-necked plant-eater that lived in what is now China. Its neck was the longest complete neck ever found on any animal, stretching almost 15 metres (49 feet). It was one of the longest dinosaurs ever discovered, as long as a blue whale!1

Lived

168 to 143 million years ago4

Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Shanshan, Xinjiang, northwestern China1 4

Food

Plants4

Length

30 to 32 m1

Weight

40 tonnes1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 7 elephants

as long as 7 cars parked in a rowas long as 180 bananas end to endas heavy as 8000 watermelons

How big was Xinjiangtitan compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Xinjiangtitan's neck had 18 vertebrae and was nearly 15 metres (49 feet) long, the longest complete neck of any known animal.1

Its thigh bone (femur) was 1.65 metres (5.4 feet) long, taller than most adult humans.1

The backbone of Xinjiangtitan is one of the most complete vertebral columns ever found for a sauropod in Asia.1

Xinjiangtitan lived during the Middle Jurassic period, about 164 million years ago.1

Scientists think Xinjiangtitan weighed up to 40 metric tons (44 short tons), as much as a herd of elephants.1

Xinjiangtitan had some features similar to diplodocid dinosaurs, like a short hind limb and a special bump on its pubis bone.1

AI-made picture of Xinjiangtitan — An AI-made picture of how Xinjiangtitan 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 Xinjiangtitan

?How big was Xinjiangtitan?

Xinjiangtitan was one of the longest known sauropods, measuring 30 to 32 metres (98 to 105 ft) long and weighing up to 40 metric tons (44 short tons).1

?What did Xinjiangtitan eat?

Xinjiangtitan was a plant-eater. Its long neck helped it reach lots of food without moving much.1 3

?When did Xinjiangtitan live?

Xinjiangtitan lived during the Middle Jurassic period, about 164 million years ago.1

?Where was Xinjiangtitan found?

Xinjiangtitan was discovered in Xinjiang, northwestern China, in the Qiketai Formation.1

?Is Xinjiangtitan a dinosaur?

Yes, Xinjiangtitan is a dinosaur. It is a mamenchisaurid sauropod.1

?How many neck bones did Xinjiangtitan have?

Xinjiangtitan had 18 neck vertebrae, and its neck was nearly 15 metres (49 ft) long, the longest complete neck of any animal.1

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Myth buster

Myth: Xinjiangtitan is sometimes called the 'Chinese dragon' because of its long neck.

Truth: Xinjiangtitan was a real dinosaur, not a mythical dragon. Its long neck was used for feeding, not for flying or breathing fire.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Xinjiangtitan
Named by: Wu et al. 20134
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Mamenchisauridae4
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda4
Age of the rocks: 168 to 143 million years (Bathonian / Tithonian)4
Rock formations: Qiketai4
Countries: China4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Xinjiangtitan was discovered in 2012 by a joint expedition from Jilin University, Shenyang Normal University, and the Xinjiang Geological Survey Institute. It was named in 2013 by Wu Wen-hao, Zhou Chang-fu, Oliver Wings, Toru Sekiya, and Dong Zhiming.1
Still debated: Scientists still debate whether the species name should be spelled 'shanshanesis' or 'shanshanensis', and whether the fossils come from the Middle Jurassic Qiketai Formation or the Late Jurassic Qigu Formation.1 2

Where the facts come from

Xinjiangtitan (en.wikipedia.org)
Xinjiangtitan, new mamenchisaurid sauropod from Middle Jurassic of China (free pdf) (dml.reptilis.net)
Longest ever necked dinosaur discovered in China | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
Xinjiangtitan in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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