Titanosauria

Titanosauria is a clade of sauropod dinosaurs within Eusauropoda that includes many of the largest land animals in Earth's history. This group is highly diverse and, overall, one of the most successful sauropod lineages, with a global fossil record and a strong emphasis in the southern continents.

The lineage originated in the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous and persisted into the Late Cretaceous. Titanosaurs achieved a cosmopolitan distribution, with fossils found on every inhabited continent, though the record is richest in Gondwana (especially South America, Africa, and Antarctica) and notable finds occur in Europe and Asia as well. They include some of the largest known dinosaurs, with individual body sizes estimated in the tens of metres in length and weights running into many tens of tonnes.

Morphologically, titanosaurs were quadrupedal herbivores. Postcranial skeletons are well represented in many taxa, but skull material is rare. Teeth tend to be small and variable, often spoon-shaped or peg-like. A distinctive feature of several derived titanosaurs is the presence of osteoderms or armor plates embedded in the skin (Saltasauridae), though armor was not universal. Neck and tail proportions vary considerably across genera.

Key genera include Argentinosaurus, Patagotitan, Dreadnoughtus, Puertasaurus, and Saltasaurus. The group is divided into basal titanosaurs and more derived lineages such as Saltasauridae. Titanosaurs are central to discussions of sauropod gigantism, biogeography, and the later Cretaceous extinction of non-avian dinosaurs.