Genus
Valid Extinct

Erketu

Ksepka and Norell 2006
Etymology Erketu est le nom d’une divinité mongole

Erketu is a genus of somphospondylan dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous, roughly between 96 million and 89 million years ago. It is known from the Bayanshiree Formation of Mongolia, and its fossils were found between 2002 and 2003 during field expeditions. Erketu was first described in 2006 and later on in 2010 due to some cervicals that were left behind in the expedition. This genus represents the first sauropod described from the Bayanshiree Formation. The elongated cervical vertebrae indicate that it probably had the longest neck relative to its body size of any sauropod.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
2
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling, gregarious Terrestrial
Erketu
click to enlarge
Wikimedia
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
Saurischia Unranked clade
Sauropodomorpha Unranked clade
Massopoda Unranked clade
Sauropodiformes Unranked clade
Sauropoda Unranked clade
Gravisauria Unranked clade
Eusauropoda Unranked clade
Neosauropoda Unranked clade
Macronaria Unranked clade
Titanosauriformes Unranked clade
Somphospondyli Unranked clade
Euhelopodidae Unranked clade
Erketu Genus
Fossil sites 2 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇲🇳 Mongolia
1
🇨🇳 China
1
Geological formations
Temporal distribution
Campanian (83.6–72.2 Ma)
1
Turonian (93.9–89.8 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Erketu ellisoni 101 Ma
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
D. T. Ksepka and M. A. Norell. 2006. Erketu ellisoni, a long-necked sauropod from Bor Guvé (Dornogov Aimag, Mongolia). American Museum Novitates 3508:1-16 DOI ↗
Bibliography (2)
S. F. Poropat. 2013. Carl Wiman's sauropods: The Uppsala Museum of Evolution's collection. GFF (Geologiska Foreningen) 135(1):104-119 DOI ↗
D. T. Ksepka and M. A. Norell. 2006. Erketu ellisoni, a long-necked sauropod from Bor Guvé (Dornogov Aimag, Mongolia). American Museum Novitates 3508:1-16 DOI ↗