#garumbatitan

[totaldino]

Garumbatitan

Garumbatitan is a sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of what is now Spain. It is classified as a basal somphospondylan - a titanosauriform, but not a true titanosaur. Of the three individuals discovered, the largest had vertebrae more than a meter wide, and a femur that could reach two meters in length.

[adamworks]

Day 7 - Garumbatitan morellensis described this year as a new species of Titanosauriformes from the late cretaceous, found in Spain

[new-dinosaurs]

Garumbatitan morellensis Mocho et al., 2023 (new genus and species)

(Right hind feet of Garumbatitan morellensis [scale bar = 50 mm], from Mocho et al., 2023)

Meaning of name: Garumbatitan = Mola de la Garumba titan [in Greek]; morellensis = from the Arcillas de Morella Formation and the town of Morella

Age: Early Cretaceous (Barremian)

Where found: Arcillas de Morella Formation, Valencian Community, Spain

How much is known: Partial skeletons of three individuals, the most complete of which includes much of the vertebral column and hindlimbs.

Notes: Garumbatitan was a macronarian sauropod, making it a close relative of brachiosaurids and titanosaurs. It appears to have been more closely related to titanosaurs than to brachiosaurids. The hind foot of Garumbatitan is exceptionally completely known and exhibits a unique combination of features among sauropods, including the loss of one of the tarsals (ankle bones), the middle three metatarsals (long bones of the foot) being especially slender, and the claw on its third toe being reduced in size.

Reference: Mocho, P., F. Escaso, J.M. Gasulla, À. Galobart, B. Poza, A. Santos-Cubedo, J.L. Sanz, and F. Ortega. 2023. New sauropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Morella (Spain) provides new insights on the evolutionary history of Iberian somphospondylan titanosauriforms. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society advance online publication. doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad124

[misterrogers22]

Dinosaurs Lately - Macronarians (Summer 2025) | Juras-Sick Park-Cast

Thanks for tuning into the Dinosaurs Lately podcast, the dinosaur podcast that features periodic updates recapping the latest news on the di

The next episode of Dinosaurs Lately, is up - see what's been published on the titanosaurs, lately.

Episode 3 - Macronaria (Summer 2025)

Thanks for tuning into the Dinosaurs Lately podcast , the dinosaur podcast that features periodic updates recapping the latest news on the d

[dinodorks]

"A team of Spanish and Portuguese paleontologists uncovered G. morellensis’remains while working at the Sant Antoni de la Vespa fossil site between 2005 and 2008. The region, which is located near the city of Morella in eastern Spain, has produced numerous dinosaur fossils. But researchers say many more remain buried, and further excavations could help reveal even more about its past. “Here in this region, we say that ‘tota pedra fa paret’—every stone makes a wall—and this stone is helping to build the paleontological wall, because it is big,” says study co-author José Miguel Gasulla, a paleontologist at Spain’s National University of Distance Education (UNED), to El País’ María Pitarch. They discovered vertebrae, leg bones and foot bones, which they believe belonged to at least three separate G. morellensis individuals. These sets of remains likely date to the Early Cretaceous period, which spanned roughly 145 million to 100.5 million years ago. The foot bones were especially noteworthy, as paleontologists unearthed “two almost complete and articulated feet,” which is “particularly rare in the geological record,” Mocho says in a statement. They can’t tell exactly how large G. morellensis could have grown. But they do know from the creatures’ bones that it was massive: Some of the vertebrae they discovered were 3.3 feet wide, and one of the femurs was 6.6 feet long. According to their estimates, these dinosaurs may have been 33 feet tall and likely ate between 66 and 88 pounds of vegetation each day, per El País. The dinosaur’s name is also a nod to its colossal size, as well as the geography of the region, according to the statement. Garumbatitan means “the giant of the Garumba” and refers to Muela de la Garumba, a mountain peak in the Els Ports region of Spain near where the fossils were discovered. Morellensis, meanwhile, is a reference to the nearby city of Morella."

Read more: "New ‘Giant’ Species of Long-Necked Dinosaur Discovered in Spain" by Sarah Kuta.