Ninjatitan

Ninjatitan (meaning "Ninja giant") is a genus of titanosaur sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Berriasian-Valanginian)-aged Bajada Colorada Formation of Argentina. It is the oldest titanosaur known to date and the type species N. zapatai was named and described in 2021.^[1] Its generic name comes from a nickname of Argentine palaeontologist Sebastian Apesteguia, and the specific name comes from technician Rogelio Zapata.^[2] It is known from postcranial remains discovered in 2014.^[3][4]

Ninjatitan Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 140–134 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	†Sauropodomorpha
Clade:	†Sauropoda
Clade:	†Macronaria
Clade:	†Titanosauria
Genus:	†Ninjatitan Gallina, Canale, & Carballido, 2021
Species:	†N. zapatai
Binomial name
†Ninjatitan zapatai Gallina, Canale, & Carballido, 2021

Classification

Ninjatitan does not preserve any unanimous features that classify it as a somphospondylan, but it does bear features that suggest it can be included within the clade Titanosauria, either as a basal taxon or possibly within the clade Colossosauria. The phylogenetic results of Gallina and colleagues are shown below, where Ninjatitan was suggested to have multiple possible positions.^[1]

Titanosauria	Andesaurus Ninjatitan Epachthosaurus Dreadnoughtus Lithostrotia Colossosauria Rinconsauria Bonitasaura Notocolossus Lognkosauria Mendozasaurus Ninjatitan Ninjatitan Quetecsaurus Futalognkosaurus Ninjatitan Drusilasaura Puertasaurus Ninjatitan Argentinosaurus Patagotitan

References

1. Gallina, P. A.; Canale, J. I.; Carballido, J. L. (2021). "The Earliest Known Titanosaur Sauropod Dinosaur". Ameghiniana. 58 (1): 35–51. doi:10.5710/AMGH.20.08.2020.3376.
2. "Colossal titanosaur found in Argentina could be the oldest example ever found, say scientists". South China Morning Post. Agence France-Presse. March 1, 2021.
3. "Científicos argentinos hallaron el titanosaurio más antiguo a nivel mundial". www.ambito.com. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
4. Monday, 01 Mar 2021 07:32 AM MYT (March 2021). "Study: Argentine titanosaur may be oldest yet | Malay Mail". www.malaymail.com. Retrieved 2021-03-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)