Pronunciation: GO-be-TIE-tuhn
Meaning: Gobi giant
Author/s: You, Tang and Luo (2003)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Gansu, China
Discovery Chart Position: #517
Gobititan shenzhouensis
(Gobi Giant from Shenzhou)Etymology
Gobititan is derived from "Gobi" (for the Gobi Desert region where it was found) and the Greek "titan" (for the Titans of Greek mythology, in reference to its large body size). In Greek mythology, the Titans were the giant deities that ruled the cosmos before their offspring, the Olympians, ousted them during a ten year war known as the Titanomachy and they were banished to the bowels of the earth. The species epithet, shenzhouensis, is derived from "Shenzhou" (an ancient name for China) and the Latin "ensis" (from).
Discovery
The remains of Gobititan were discovered in the Digou Formation (Xinminbao Group) at Mazongshan ("Horse Mane Mountain"), Gongpoquan Basin, northwestern Gansu Province, China, in 1997 durig the Sino-American Horse Mane Mountain Dinoaur Project, consisting of personnel from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IWP) of the Chinese Academy of Science.
The holotype (IVPP 12579) is a series of 41 tail vertebrae and a left hind leg, which were excavated in the summer of 1999.
Preparators
Zhang Yuqing and Li Shijie.
