Somphospondyli is an extinct clade of titanosauriform that lived from the Late Jurassic until the end of the Late Cretaceous, comprising all titanosauriforms more closely related to Titanosauria proper than Brachiosauridae. The remains of somphospondylans have been discovered on all continents.
Classification
The group has officially been defined under the
PhyloCode as the largest clade containing
Saltasaurus loricatus, but not
Giraffatitan brancai. Features found as diagnostic of this clade by Mannion
et al. (2013) include the possession of at least 15 cervical vertebrae; a
radius bone end;
sacral vertebrae with
camellate internal texture; posterior articular surfaces of middle to posterior
caudal vertebrae; distal caudal vertebrae;
humerus anterolateral corner "squared"; among multiple others.
The following cladogram depicts the reference phylogeny used to defined Somphospondlyi under the PhyloCode.
