Garrigatitan

Garrigatitan (meaning "garrigue giant", referring to a type of Mediterranean vegetation characterized by drought-resistant shrubs) is a genus of titanosaurian dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period of the Grès à Reptiles Formation in France. The genus contains a single species, "Garrigatitan meridionalis." The holotype specimen, belonging to a subadult animal, is estimated to be long, while the adult length is estimated at around .
Discovery and naming.
Between 2009 and 2012, excavations were carried out at Velaux-La Bastide Neuve by the "Palaios" Association and the University of Poitiers. During the excavations, the holotype of "Garrigatitan" was discovered and remains of "Atsinganosaurus velauciensis" were also present.
In 2020, the type species "Garrigatitan meridionalis" was named and described by Verónica Díez Díaz, Géraldine Garcia, Xabier Pereda Suberbiola, Benjamin Jentgen-Ceschino, Koen Stein, Pascal Godefroit and Xavier Valentin. The holotype, MMS / VBN.09.17, was found in a layer of sandstone of the "Begudian", the second level of the second series, dating back to the late Campanian. It consists of a sacrum belonging to an immature individual.
In addition, a number of other fossils have been assigned to the species. This concerns the specimens MMS / VBN.02.99: a cervical vertebra; MMS / VBN.09.A.016 and MMS / VBN.09.47: two humeri; MMS / VBN.12B.12a: a left ilium and MMS / VBN.12B.12b: a right ischial bone. Furthermore, fossils were allocated with reservation. They were the specimens MMS / VBN.12B.011: a neural spine; MMS / VBN.12.82: a right humerus; MMS.VBN.09.A.017: part of the right leg and MMS / VBN.00.13: a left femur. The assigned specimens come from the third level of the second series. The fossils were found in a lens with an area of 375 square meters and a thickness of . They were not associated and presumably represent different individuals and they are all part of the "Moulin Seigneurial de Velaux" collection.
Etymology.
The genus name is a combination of the Occitan "garriga", "dry thicket", and the Greek "titan", a member of a mythological family of giants. The species epithet "meridonalis" means "southern" in Latin.