Since September, I went to see Patagotitan again. This time, I focused on the main exhibit, "Titanosaurids: The Lives of the Largest Dinosaurs," and took my time to explore. As expected, it was well worth seeing even the second time, as it was a direct import of the Natural History Museum's special exhibition, and I enjoyed it more than I anticipated. The interactive animation, which I had skipped last time due to being overwhelmed by crowds of children, was also well-made.

Looking closely again, the Patagotitan is indeed huge. And it's fortunate that so many parts have been found for a titanosaurid (though it's a composite of several individuals), adding to its credibility.

By the way, the colossal titanosaurid Puertasaurus from Argentina, which was recently featured in "Darwin" (though the program said it was a recent discovery, it was actually discovered in 2001 and described in 2005), is reconstructed based on about four vertebrae. Argentinosaurus also seems to be based only on vertebrae, tibiae, partial ribs, and sacrum. Patagotitan appears to be nearly as complete as Dreadnoughtus, of which 45.5% has been found.

*It's interesting to see the table comparing the completeness of giant dinosaur skeletons on the Dreadnoughtus Wikipedia page.

I also extensively touched the strangely shaped "touchable skull," which was made based on the rare titanosaurid Sarmientosaurus, for which an almost complete skull has been discovered. Of course, it was somewhat crude, but when I stroked its teeth, both the upper and lower wear facets seemed to be on the inside... This is a story I'd like to share with fellow dinosaur enthusiasts over drinks.

And then I suddenly realized how ignorant I was about titanosaurids. When I was growing up, titanosaurids weren't mentioned in any books.

 

Once upon a time, in the era called Showa, the only giant sauropods were Brontosaurus (later renamed Apatosaurus), the longest dinosaur Diplodocus, and the heaviest dinosaur Brachiosaurus. Although Camarasaurus, Cetiosaurus, Dicraeosaurus, and Euhelopus were listed in children's encyclopedias like "Dinosaur Encyclopedia" and "Comprehensive Dinosaur Encyclopedia," they were given little attention, and perhaps due to their lack of imposing size, they never appeared in dinosaur features in boys' magazines.

By the way, the only sauropod figures other than the three major sauropods released in the Showa era were Dicraeosaurus from STARLUX, a French company in the 70s (Shin Hihokan Vol. 8), and Cetiosaurus and Mamenchisaurus from the British Natural History Museum in the 80s (Hihokan Vol. 41). For Camarasaurus, we had to wait until the 90s for Kaiyodo's soft vinyl kit by Shinobu Matsumura (reprints are still sold today). Most Brontosaurus (Apatosaurus) figures of that time had Camarasaurus-like faces, which instilled in me the mistaken impression that Camarasaurus and Apatosaurus were closely related.

Until the recent discovery of numerous colossal titanosaurids from the Late Cretaceous in South America, the common understanding of sauropods was that their golden age was the Jurassic, they declined in the Cretaceous with the rise of large ornithopods, and became extinct before the end of the Mesozoic. When did the name Titanosaurus first appear in general dinosaur books? Curious, I randomly flipped through several books from the 70s onwards.

 

"Dinosaur Museum" (Kappa Books, 1973) by Ikuo Obata is probably the first dinosaur encyclopedia for adults. The sauropods introduced are Brachiosaurus, Cetiosaurus, Camarasaurus, Astrodon, Euhelopus, Diplodocus, and Brontosaurus, with fairly detailed explanations, but the classification is roughly Class Reptilia / Order Saurischia. The word "sauropod" itself doesn't even appear.

*As I will introduce later, Brachiosaurus, Astrodon, and Euhelopus are currently classified as Titanosauriformes. Astrodon and Euhelopus lived in North America and China, respectively, during the Early Cretaceous and may have ended up in the stomachs of Acrocanthosaurus or Sinotyrannus.

 

"Illustrated Book of Ancient Vertebrates" (1977) by Tokuo Shikama, though antiquated, features captivating detailed illustrations and specialized explanations, but it doesn't delve into minute classifications. Mamenchisaurus and Tianjianosaurus are added.

 

Around the mid-70s, in chapter 5 of "The Great Age of Dinosaurs" (Desmond, Futami Shobo, 1976), which was the genesis of Japan's dinosaur renaissance, the name Titanosaurus casually appears in the Marsh-Cope War section of the history of sauropod discovery, starting with Cetiosaurus. Although Titanosaurus was described early, in 1877, it never took center stage in the world of thunder lizards for a long time. There isn't much information about it here either.

*At the end of the sauropod section of this book, an illustration of an elegant Barosaurus, reminiscent of a giraffe, raising its head high and keeping its tail horizontal, moving in a herd, appears, becoming a symbolic visual of the renaissance along with Deinonychus.

*Titanosaurus was once called Tytanosaurus (or Chitanosaurus) by English pronunciation of Titan. Titan is said to be a giant god in Greek mythology.

While it's incorrect as a Japanese dinosaur name, which is primarily based on Latin pronunciation, this pronunciation might be more common in other fields. For example, the movie "Clash of the Titans," the Titanic, and Titan, the moon of Saturn. So I chose this title for this entry.

 

"Animal Encyclopedia Extra Volume: Dinosaurs" (David Norman, Heibonsha, published 1988) is a large format book with 24 pages dedicated to sauropods alone. After detailing Diplodocids, Camarasaurids, and Brachiosaurids, Titanosaurids appear in the section on other sauropods. However, the main focus is on the newly discovered Saltasaurus. At the end of the sauropod section, there's a classification table listing Antarctosaurus, Hypselosaurus, Laplatasaurus, Saltasaurus, and Titanosaurus as "genera included in the family Titanosauridae."

 

In "Dinosaur Paleontology Frontline 9" (1995), Gregory Paul contributed a 16-page article titled "The Mystery of Super-Giant Dinosaurs." While he elaborately explains giant sauropods in general, accompanied by familiar skeletal diagrams, he begins by introducing the [Titano]saurids of Argentina. Antarctosaurus and the [recently described] Argentinosaurus appear.

*Before I knew it, it had become Titanosaurus.

 

In "New Wide Gakken's Illustrated Encyclopedia: Dinosaurs" (published 2000), sauropod classification includes Primitive Sauropods / Euhelopodidae / Cetiosauridae / Diplodocidae / Camarasauridae / Brachiosauridae, and Titanosauridae. There are 11 species of titanosaurids introduced, including Opisthocoelicaudia, Argentinosaurus, Ampelosaurus, Hypselosaurus, and Alamosaurus. The reconstructed illustrations are also quite modern.

 

"Thoroughly Illustrated: The World of Dinosaurs" (published by Shinsei Publishing, 2010) by Ryuichi Kaneko is a book brimming with the latest theories and terminology, making it a challenging read for the general public due to its unique Kaneko-style prose. However, it explains the classification (or clade in the original text) "Titanosauriformes." Furthermore, it even mentions "Macronaria," a higher clade that includes Titanosauriformes.

For more details, please see here. This is information on current Titanosauridae.

 

Titanosauridae

Macronaria

 

That familiar Brachiosaurus is a Titanosauriform... Come to think of it, the former Brachiosaurus brancai is now called Giraffatitan, a genus name fitting for a Titanosauriform.

 

*The suffix "-titan" is often used for titanosaurids, but it's also used for others. For example, Anatotitan (formerly Anatosausus), and Tyrannotitan (Carcharodontosauridae), which sounds like a hybrid dinosaur from "Giant Dinosaur Exhibition."

 

...Since the phylogenetic tree isn't entirely clear, let's switch gears and talk about figures.

 

The first titanosaurid figure, I believe, was Kaiyodo's 1/20 Saltasaurus soft vinyl kit, sculpted by Kazunari Araki and released in 1991. Saltasaurus was not particularly large, but its dermal armor plates, reminiscent of an ankylosaur, were novel and attracted attention. It also has the most figures among titanosaurids, though only six species.

 

Image ①

On the left is Kaiyodo/Araki's soft vinyl kit (1991), top right front is Safari (1996), and the back is Schleich (2005) from when they were still aiming for realism.

At the bottom are Sega Toys' Dinosaur King - Dinosaur King Retsuden (2007) and the current Eikoh, Miniature Planet.

There are also Jurassic Hunter series items that I do not own.

 

And here I absolutely must introduce the Saltasaurus (left) and the eggshell fossil of the French titanosaurid Hypselosaurus, which I bought very early in my dinosaur life, back when genuine dinosaur fossils were only available as fragments whose species and parts were unknown. They've been sold at affordable prices (under 5,000 yen) from then until now. At the time, I wasn't even aware of titanosaurids; I just cherished them as genuine sauropod egg fossils.

I had forgotten about them for a long time, but now they're finally seeing the light of day!

 

For some reason, CollectA seems to be focusing on titanosaurids, and they have released titanosaurid figures that I had never even heard of until I researched them this time (despite owning several).

 

Image ②

From left

Ampelosaurus (2011)

Argentinosaurus (2012)

Daxiatitan (2015)

Alamosaurus (2011)

 

Besides these, there's Paralititan that I missed buying.

It's interesting that the reconstruction style of titanosaurids changed dramatically from Daxiatitan, released in 2015.

 

This is the current trend in titanosaurid reconstruction style. It's like a Brachiosaurus with a thick neck.

 

Image ③

From left

CollectA'suyangosaurus (2022)

Luyangosaurus is a Chinese titanosaurid that was the highlight of the 2017 "Giga Dinosaur Exhibition." A 38m skeleton, the same size as Patagotitan, was displayed, but most of its tail was missing, so its total length is merely an estimation.

 

PNSO's Alamosaurus (2023)

It looks unbalanced, and if you gently push its head, it indeed topples over. While it has a big impact, I worry if it could actually survive like this.

The book I'm currently reading, "The Last Day of the Dinosaurs" (by Riley Black, Chemical Dojin), published this August, is a fascinating narrative that describes the daily lives of animals during the million years after the asteroid impact, interspersed with scientific explanations. It opens with an episode about a baby Alamosaurus on the North Horn Formation in Utah, just before hatching on the day of the impact. The book explains that Utah is one of the few places where Alamosaurus, which migrated north from South America, and Tyrannosaurus, which migrated south, met, a truly thought-provoking story.

 

Dreadnoughtus

Upper right is CollectA (2024)

Below is Mattel's Jurassic World Series action figure (2022).

This is the largest dinosaur figure in my house, measuring 1.5m in length, which I also introduced in Shin Hihokan Vol. 69. It was a struggle to take photos. It became famous overnight with "Dominion." There was a scene in the movie explaining its name as "fearless," but the naming was not in that sense; it was taken from the British battleship Dreadnought from the early 20th century. Perhaps the describer was a warship enthusiast.

The Dreadnought was a revolutionary colossal ship at the time of its construction, setting the standard for battleship size in various countries. In Japan, battleships of similar size were called "dreadnoughts" (弩級戦艦), and larger ones were called "super-dreadnoughts" (超弩級戦艦). This is the origin of the term "dreadnought-class" (弩級) that otaku idol Shoko Nakagawa frequently used for a while.

*I feel a bit out of place showing this picture, but this is the battleship Dreadnought. However, compared to the Yamato, built about 30 years later, it looks like a cruiser.

Image ④

 

And the rightmost figure in Image ③ is the new Ania Argentinosaurus. While the gaps in the movable parts are still a concern, the proportions are quite good.

 

It's unclear why recent titanosaurids (including reconstructed illustrations) are depicted this way. There must be some basis, but I couldn't find the answer online. I'll report back if I find out.

 

There was also a figure named Titanosaurus itself, but...

 

Image ⑤

Sega Toys' Dinosaur King - Dinosaur King Retsuden series Titanosaurus colberti (2008)

Unfortunately, it was renamed Isisaurus in 2003, before its release. Was the data used for its creation outdated?

 

The blue one is from the Ania "Nobita's New Dinosaur" series, included with the "New Dinosaur Island Playmap." The product name is Titanosaurus, but Suneo called it Alamosaurus in the movie. Perhaps it's a scientific consideration that Alamosaurus would be inappropriate since the setting is Cretaceous Japan.

 

Other titanosaurid figures include Opisthocoelicaudia from UHA Mikakuto's Collect Club, but I couldn't find it even though I should have it. When that happens, please check out the reliable "Dinosaur Toy Museum."

 

 

Titanosauriform figures

 

I'll skip Brachiosaurus figures to avoid getting sidetracked, and here I'll introduce Tambatitanis and Fukuititan, which were discovered and described in Japan.

 

Image ⑥

 

Kaiyodo Capsule Q Museum Dinosaur Excavation "Dinosaurs of Japan" (2016)

 

1/40 Tamba-ryu sold locally (2014)

Although the scientific name was given in August 2014, the package I have at home does not yet include the name Tambatitanis. The sculptor is Hirokazu Tokugawa. Produced by Favorite.

 

Tambaryu-yaki (2016)

This is also a local original product. Although it's pottery, the prototype is based on 3D data (the same as the full-body skeleton on display) by Dr. Haruo Saegusa, a central figure in Tamba's fossil research who sadly passed away in 2022, making it a serious creation.

 

*The specific epithet of the recently described small ceratopsian Sasayamagnomus saegusai, which was reported in the general news, is dedicated to Dr. Saegusa.

 

Fukuititan

Image ⑦

 

Favorite's Mini Model Series "Takashimaya Excavated Dinosaur Kingdom Exhibition" limited edition (2024). I was lured by the word "limited" and bought it, but the original color is definitely better.

 

Kabaya Foods' Honihone Xaurus (2019)

There are also amber (2016) and gold (2018) versions, but I can't collect them all.

 

If possible, I'd like to line up a 1/40 Fukuititan figure next to the Tambatitanis.

 

The Chinese Euhelopus, known since ancient times, is considered to be closely related to these Japanese titanosauriforms. (I introduced an illustration from a book published during the Sino-Japanese War in Shin Hihokan Vol. 70.)

The only (?) figure of this Euhelopus was released by PNSO, a local Chinese company. It's a 1/20 standing pose, but it seems to be unavailable now. (Unfortunately, I don't own it.)

Another titanosauriform from North America, Astrodon, which I mentioned in the section about Ikuo Obata's "Dinosaur Museum," was also once made into a figure. I found it in "DIOSAUR COLLECTIBLES," a collector's book that serves as my bible. It's a resin kit from SAURIAN STUDIOS, a 90s American garage kit manufacturer. It's a diorama of four Astrodons fighting Utahraptors, a parody of William Stout's famous illustration of Deinonychus vs. Tenontosaurus.

 

This time, I've become so knowledgeable about titanosaurids thanks to Patagotitan.

I'm grateful.

Finally, at the second "Giant Dinosaur Exhibition," having nothing left to buy, I reluctantly (?) bought a Patagotitan plush keychain (I passed on the large plush) and, after giving up on the venue-limited gacha early on, obtained Kaiyodo's Patagotitan skeleton/living figure from Yahoo Auctions. I decided to overlook the color difference.

 

Image ⑧