New African Titanosaur Species

Published: 8th Sep 2014

This week has seen the discovery of a new species of the huge Titanosaur dinosaurs. It has been named Rukwatitan bisepultus and its remains were found embedded in a cliff-wall in the Rukwa Basin of southwestern Tanzania. Palaeontologists enlisted the assistance of coal miners from the area to help excavate the fossils. The remains include vertebrae, ribs, limbs and pelvic bones. The forelimbs alone were over 2 metres (6.5ft) long.

Titanosaurids were enormous four-legged sauropods that lived during the  Cretaceous period. The majority of Titanosaurs have been foun in South America with only four species being discovered in Africa so far. These two continents were once joined and then split apart during the era of the dinosaurs.