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Description
This unusual Titanosaur is Birketotitan, an inhabitant of the humid subtropical swamp forests that covered much of North Africa during the Oligocene. Known from a few partial specimens, the animal possessed a bizarre suit of features seemingly adapted to the lush conditions of its marshy homeland. Measuring at a modest 15m and weighing in at a svelte 7 tonnes, B. isis was a low browsing herbivore with comparatively short limbs and a wide barrel-shaped body. The skull was superficially horse-like and tipped with a square, possibly keratinized snout, calling to mind images of the Late Jurassic Diplodocids. The teeth, however, were more comparable to those of Nigersaurus (although not as extreme) and the animal likely inhabited a similar niche while alive, browsing on low growing herbaceous plants. Abelisaurs such as the contemporary Saghasaurus would have been Birketotitan's major threat within its ecosystem, although juvenile and sub-adults could have fallen prey to Caenodromaeosaurs and Sebecid Notosuchians. Being a short legged, slow moving animal, living in herds would have offered a degree of safety in numbers. B. isis was a member of the uniquely African Titanosaur family Gombesauridae, being close relatives of the Late Cretaceous genus Mansourasaurus. It has been determined to be a relatively basal member of the sub-family Afrohylaeospondylinae, a clade of somewhat Diplodocoid-like Titanosaurs adapted for selective browsing.

Description
This unusual Titanosaur is Birketotitan, an inhabitant of the humid subtropical swamp forests that covered much of North Africa during the Oligocene. Known from a few partial specimens, the animal possessed a bizarre suit of features seemingly adapted to the lush conditions of its marshy homeland. Measuring at a modest 15m and weighing in at a svelte 7 tonnes, B. isis was a low browsing herbivore with comparatively short limbs and a wide barrel-shaped body. The skull was superficially horse-like and tipped with a square, possibly keratinized snout, calling to mind images of the Late Jurassic Diplodocids. The teeth, however, were more comparable to those of Nigersaurus (although not as extreme) and the animal likely inhabited a similar niche while alive, browsing on low growing herbaceous plants. Abelisaurs such as the contemporary Saghasaurus would have been Birketotitan's major threat within its ecosystem, although juvenile and sub-adults could have fallen prey to Caenodromaeosaurs and Sebecid Notosuchians. Being a short legged, slow moving animal, living in herds would have offered a degree of safety in numbers. B. isis was a member of the uniquely African Titanosaur family Gombesauridae, being close relatives of the Late Cretaceous genus Mansourasaurus. It has been determined to be a relatively basal member of the sub-family Afrohylaeospondylinae, a clade of somewhat Diplodocoid-like Titanosaurs adapted for selective browsing.