Introduction:
Titanosaurus is one of the oldest sauropod dinosaur to be discovered. Yet it is the least understood than any other sauropods. Even more so, it was the first to start the Titanosauria family tree which includes a lot of other titanosaurs like Argentinosaurus & Dreadnoughtus. Now, there have been rumblings of Titanosaurus appearing in the new film, Jurassic World: Rebirth. Because of that, let’s get to know more about it before we see it in the film.
Discovery:
Titanosaurus was discovered way back in 1877 by the English paleontologist named Richard Lydekker. Mr. Lydekker contributed a lot in the study of paleontology in India, more specifically Northern India or Kashmir. He spent his whole life in India, until he passed away. This is probably why there are discoveries being made till now from both Pakistan and India. Because back then, Pakistan, India & Bangladesh were as one, India. But now, all 3 are different countries. Back to the topic, Titanosaurus was unearthed from Lameta Formation and Kallakurichi Formations of India.
Titanosaurus was also the first Indian dinosaur to be named and properly described. This surprises me so much that a whole new clade of dinosaurs were born because of dinosaur fossils found in India. Because of this, now there are 50 Titanosaurs genera!!! There are actually 2 species, Titanosaurus indicus and Titanosaurus blandfordi. The meaning of the name, you have probably guessed it, is ‘Titanic Lizard‘ based on the mythological ‘Titans‘ and ‘indicus‘ meant ‘India‘. Because of where it was found and ‘blandfordi‘ meant the name of the paleontologist who found it, William Thomas Blandford. Both the species found were estimated to be around 70 million years old which date back to the Late Cretaceous Period.
Problematic History of Titanosaurus:
We will go over the different discoveries that have been made for Titanosaurus from the oldest to the latest. Starting off with the original bones that Mr. Lydekker described were 2 neck bones. The bones were unearthed during an exploration to Jabalpur in 1828 by Captain William Henry Sleeman of the East India Company army. The captain was actually quite educated about fossils to know the difference from rocks and fossils. And this was one of many explorations carried by army personnel, doctors and priests. Apparently, he happened to stumble across the vertebrae on Bara Simla Hill near a British Army gun carriage workshop while searching for petrified wood.
Captain Sleeman gave the 2 neck bones to a surgeon named G. G. Spilsbury, who had an office in Jabalpur as well as found another neck bone by himself. I know, these British guys are switching jobs left and right like what games to play. They keep changing it because they got bored. I am surprised by the fact that how did a surgeon find a neck bone of Titanosaurus all by himself like what?? Got off track, Spilsbury, later, sent the bones to an antiquarian named James Prinsep in Calcutta in 1832. Prinsep found out that they were fossilized bones and returned it to Sleeman.
More Problems:
In 1862, Thomas Oldman, the first director of the newly established Geological Survey of India transferred the fossils from Jabalpur to Calcutta again. And added them to the collection of the Indian Museum. The bones were finally studied by the Survey’s supervisor, Hugh Falconer, and concluded that the fossils were of reptilian bones. After Falconer’s death in 1877, Richard Lydekker described the neck bones as a new genus of reptile known as Titanosaurus indicus. It took 49 years for the bones to be finally named. Unlike the modern times where any fossils would be named in 1 or 2 years after studying the fossils. Such is the era of that time! But Titanosaurus would not be so lucky as the bones would soon be lost and untraceable by the end of the 20th century without any reason with only illustrations being left.
In 2010, Matthew Carrano, made models of the bones based on the illustrations Lydekker made in 1877 as a replacement and gave an inventory number. I usually do not write down inventory numbers. Because I feel like it might overwhelm the readers. But you can let me know in the comments if you want it to be included. Inventory number is assigned to every fossil discovered so that any paleontologists can request for studying and research. As well as also to keep track of the valuable fossils.
Reach to a Conclusion:
But this endeavor would lead another paleontologist, Dhanajay Mohabey, to start rediscovering lost fossils project because these fossils were lost due to no serious inventory of the collections had been carried out for generations. He started the Study of Late Cretaceous Tetrapod fossils from Lameta Formation project with support from the University of Michigan with the main goal of finding lost fossils. Because of this project, he and Subhasis Sengupta, another fellow paleontologist, recovered one of the holotype vertebra on 25 April 2012 as well as found a whole batch of fossils which had been left by Lydekker in 1878 which were thought to be lost and no official inventory number were given.
Now, let’s talk about the other Titanosaurus species that was found, Titanosaurus blandfordi. The paleontologists found 2 neck bones around 1860 – 1870 but one of them belonged to another Titanosaur, Laplatasaurus. And was also lost like the indicus and rediscovered by the efforts of Dhanajay Mohabey and Subhasis Sengupta. But later on, paleontologists Upchurch and Wilson did a revision on Titanosaurus species. And found that they were not distinguishable enough from the South American Titanosaurs. But did not match with the Indian counterparts. They declared Titanosaurus to be nomen dubium which means they are doubtful if it is actually real. I find it to be a bit hasty and like, if they do not find enough bones to match with Titanosaurus, one cannot declare it to be not real.
Pain of Research:
Fossils in India are rare and fragmentary. Because the paleontology field in India is not as developed as like in USA or other countries like China. Research investment for such a high level science field in a third world country does not develop at an acceptable rate. It is a shame to consider such a genus to be doubtful. But recently in 2023, paleontologists found a nesting site with 256 eggs with 3 kinds of patterns. And they are very likely to be laid by Titanosaurus.
Biology:
Like most sauropods, Titanosaurus probably lived the same lifestyle like the others. The problem with trying to understand what sort of biology and lifestyle it lived is hard to figure out just from very few fragmentary remains and it is only neck bones and leg bone. One thing is for sure that, based on the neck bones, it probably had a shorter neck than most other Titanosaurs and probably similar to the relatives it lived nearby with, Isisaurus and Jainosaurus.
Sizes of Titanosaurus:
Titanosaurus may have grew up to be around 5 – 6m (16 – 20 feet) tall, 18 – 20m (59 – 67 feet) long and at the very least 15 tons. These are just the estimates inferred from other genera of Titanosaurs found in India. Titanosaurus probably ate all kinds of vegetation because of the medium size, it could grasp the food on the ground-level as well as tree tops.
The dinosaurs that are found in India, especially among the sauropods, are not that fully researched or even complete and many of them are fragmentary except for Isisaurus. Many paleontologists think that Titanosaurus and Jainosaurus were almost the same size as Isisaurus and with Isisaurus being smaller than the usual Titanosaurs, Titanosaurus could have been similar size as well. One thing to note is that, in the new film, Jurassic World Rebirth, they might exaggerate the size because it being so fragmented, the filmmakers have a little bit more creative liberty.
Film Appearance and Ecology of Titanosaurus:
On the topic of the film, their has been some rumors that the Titanosaurus may have small sails on the back of the neck and the back of the torso, and it sort of looks like Spinosaurus spined-sail but do take this with a grain of salt until more evidences are found of Titanosaurus and think of this as more of a creative liberty. Do enjoy the design and the portrayal but don’t take it too seriously.
Titanosaurus’ environment consisted of many sauropods and a whole lot of predators but surprisingly, most predators are Abelisauridaes. Sauropods like Isisaurus and Jainosaurus, abelisaurs like Indosuchus, Indosaurus, Rahiolisaurus and Rajasaurus, small theropods like Composuchus and Laevisuchus, and many more genera but most of them are dubious and so I cannot say anything conclusive about them. Even Titanosaurus is dubious genus but there are are quite enough fossil material to make it a reliable separate genus and we just got to find more of the fossils and invest heavily in the Indian region of paleontology because I believe there are a lot more unique dinosaurs left to uncover.
FAQ:
Is a brachiosaurus a titanosaur?
It is a very good question and Brachiosaurus is not exactly a Titanosaur but it was an ancestor to the Titanosauria family which is why most of the neck posture and sizes are so close to a Brachiosaurus. Simply speaking, Brachiosaurus gave rise to Titanosaurs. Brachiosaurus and other sauropods in the Brachiosauridae group is later classified to belong in the Titanosauriformes group which contains Titanosaurs. They are super closely related but a little different from Titanosaurs.
Why did titanosaurs get so big?
The answer includes many factors to why Titanosaurs got so big and one of them is being able to protect themselves from theropods or carnivores. I mean, hunting down a huge Titanosaur would be very risky if you could not reach their vital parts. Plus the body would be able to lots of water and fat for dry and drought seasons where food and water would be scarce as well as when food was available, they could eat the leaves from tall trees and not risk themselves from getting attacked by predators. Being big has a lot of advantages!
What did Titanosaurus eat?
Well, the answer is pretty simple. Titanosaurus ate plenty of leaves and vegetation from tall trees. They probably nibbled on the ground-level shrubs and bushes when they were young and slowly chose food from taller sources as they grew bigger. Titanosaurus is strictly a herbivore and there is argument that it ate nothing but plants and vegetation. It had a truly vegan diet!
Media of Titanosaurus:
While being the namesake of an entire sauropod family tree, there is not much appearance of Titanosaurus itself in most media. Sure many other Titanosaurs do appear in entertainment media like Dreadnoughtus for Jurassic World Dominion and Argentinosaurus appeared in special episode of Walking with Dinosaurs, as well as appearing in video games like Prehistoric Kingdom and mobile games of Jurassic World. Even a very closely related Titanosaur which was also found in India, Isisaurus, made an appearance in the highly acclaimed documentary by Apple TV+, Prehistoric Planet.
Titanosaurus may have not captured the audiences just yet but there have been appearances here and there and I will list down some below but I am willingly to bet it will become more popular and widely talked about as soon as Jurassic World Rebirth hits the theaters this summer!
Media that has Titanosaurus:
- Jurassic Park Institute (Edutainment Website [Now closed down])
- ARK: Survival Evolved (An open world, live service video game)
- Power Rangers: Dino Super Charge (A Japanese live-action superhero show, rebranded with some edited footage by US)
- Dinosaur King (Trading Card Game & Anime Series)
- Titanosaurus (A Monster for the Showa Era Godzilla Movies but resembles nothing like a sauropod, only the name)
And so, Titanosaurus appeared in the latest Jurassic World: Rebirth trailer. I must say, I am quite surprised by the design. Not only is Titanosaurus huge! But it has quite a thick neck too, like most depictions of sauropods nowadays which was a welcome design change. I am not sure on the skull shape. It looks a little off to me but I have to see it in the film to fully see the design. The small sails though, I must say that I love that feature! Now, remember as you have read through this article, not the whole Titanosaurus skeleton is found yet. So creative liberties can be taken.
Alongside the fact like how we saw strange balloon-like appendages on Dreadnoughtus in the Prehistoric Planet documentary. Yeah small sails doesn’t faze me. I do like this touch and it gives off a new, fresh vibe to the sauropod design. And I for one think this is solid design and I cannot wait to see it on the big screen.
Merchandise of Titanosaurus:
Unfortunately, it does not seem like any merchandise exists for this gigantic sauropod. But this is it for now and the end for the blog post of Titanosaurus. And I hope you learned a lot about this elusive sauropod. I cannot wait to see this dinosaur in the big screens later this year. I hope you are just as excited as I am. See you again soon in my other posts!!!
Well, this is just in but I found out that thanks to the release of Jurassic World: Rebirth trailer. Mattel decided to give us a sneak peek upon the glorious presentation of Titanosaurus in their classic large figure version of Titanosaurus. Have a look!
I must say the coloring and patterning of this dinosaur is excellent. It also has the extra long tail just like it was shown in the trailer. I cannot wait to have this figure in hand. I will provide you the link from where you can buy very soon. Thank you again for going through this post and I hope to see you again! You can check out more dinosaurs or other prehistoric creatures post from the Species Profile page!!
