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Uriash

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Uriash
Temporal range: Maastrichtian, 71–66 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Sauropodomorpha
Clade: Sauropoda
Clade: Macronaria
Clade: Titanosauria
Clade: Lithostrotia
Genus: Uriash
Díez Díaz et al., 2025
Species:
U. kadici
Binomial name
Uriash kadici
Díez Díaz et al., 2025

Uriash is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Romania. The holotype of this genus was originally referred to Petrustitan.[1]

Discovery

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In 1914, the Hungarian geologist Ottokár Kadić in the Pârâul Budurone, een ravine near Vălioara, discovered a skeleton of a sauropod which was markedly larger than previously found sauropod remains in the area. In 1916, the discovery, consisting of limb bones and eight vertebrae, was reported in the scientific literature.[2] By 12 January 1927 two vertebrae had been sent to Friedrich von Huene at the University of Tübingen. Von Huene described these in 1932, preliminary referring them to a ?Magyarosaurus hungaricus, presently Petrustitan.[3] In 2021 the site was rediscovered[4] and only then it was realised that all the bones had belonged to a single animal, "Individual C". It was concluded that it represented a taxon new to science.[1]

Etymology

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In 2025, the type species Uriash kadici was named and described by Verónica Díez Díaz, Philip David Mannion, Zoltán Csiki-Sava and Paul Upchurch. The generic name Uriash references the Romanian word uriaș, the giant in Romanian Folklore, while the specific name kadici references the Hungarian geologist Ottokár Kadić (1876–1957).[1]

Individual C is the holotype. It was found in the lower middle member of the Densuş-Ciula Formation probably dating from the early Maastrichtian. It contains the tail vertebrae SZTFH Ob.3090 B, D, G, H (four vertebrae have been lost), the right humerus SZTFH Ob.3104, the thighbones SZTFH Ob.3103 and the left first metatarsal SZTFH Ob.3095.[1]

Description

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Restoration

Uriash has been estimated to be 8.83–11.87 m (29.0–38.9 ft) long and weigh up to 5–8 t (4.9–7.9 long tons; 5.5–8.8 short tons). It was in 2025 the second largest known European Upper Cretaceous titanosaur, after Abditosaurus.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Díez Díaz, Verónica; Mannion, Philip D.; Csiki-Sava, Zoltán; Upchurch, Paul (20 February 2025). "Revision of Romanian sauropod dinosaurs reveals high titanosaur diversity and body-size disparity on the latest Cretaceous Haţeg Island, with implications for titanosaurian biogeography". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 23 (1). doi:10.1080/14772019.2024.2441516.
  2. ^ Kadić, O. 1916. "Jelentés az 1915, évben végzett ásatásaimról: II A valiorai dinosaurusok gyujtése". A Magyar Királyi Földtani Intézet Évi Jelentések, 1915-röl: 573–576
  3. ^ Huene, F. von. 1932. Die fossile Reptilordnung Saurischia: Ihre Entwicklung und Geschichte. Monographien zur Geologie und Palaeontologie, 1(4), 361 pp
  4. ^ Botfalvai, G., Csiki-Sava, Z., Kocsis, L., Albert, G., Magyar, J., Bodor, E.R., Ţabara, D., Ulyanov, A., & Makadi, L. 2021. "‘X’ marks the spot! Sedimentological, geochemical and palaeontological investigations of Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) vertebrate fossil localities from the Valioara valley (Densuş-Ciula Formation, Haţeg Basin, Romania)". Cretaceous Research, 123: 104781