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Brachiosaur
The Brachiosauridae ("arm lizards", from Greek ''brachion'' (βραχίων) = "arm" and ''sauros'' = "lizard") are a family or clade of herbivorous, quadrupedal sauropod dinosaurs. Brachiosaurids had long necks that enabled them to access the leaves of tall trees that other sauropods would have been unable to reach. In addition, they possessed thick spoon-shaped teeth which helped them to consume tough plants more efficiently than other sauropods. They have also been characterized by a few unique traits or synapomorphies; dorsal vertebrae with 'rod-like' transverse processes and an ischium with an abbreviated pubic peduncle. ''Brachiosaurus'' is one of the best-known members of the Brachiosauridae, and was once thought to be the largest land animal to ever live. Brachiosaurids thrived in the regions which are now North and South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. They first appear in the fossil record in the Late Jurassic Period (possibly even earlier in the Middle Jurassic) and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brachiosaurus
''Brachiosaurus'' () is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic, about 154to 150million years ago. It was first described by American paleontologist Elmer S. Riggs in 1903 from fossils found in the Colorado River valley in western Colorado, United States. Riggs named the dinosaur ''Brachiosaurus altithorax''; the generic name is Greek for "arm lizard", in reference to its proportionately long arms, and the specific name means "deep chest". ''Brachiosaurus'' is estimated to have been between 18 and 22 meters (59 and 72ft) long; body mass estimates of the subadult holotype specimen range from 28.3 to 46.9 metric tons (31.2 and 51.7 short tons). It had a disproportionately long neck, small skull, and large overall size, all of which are typical for sauropods. Atypically, ''Brachiosaurus'' had longer forelimbs than hindlimbs, which resulted in a steeply inclined trunk, and a proportionally shorter tail. ''Brachiosaurus'' is the name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Europasaurus
''Europasaurus'' is a basal macronarian sauropod, a form of quadrupedal herbivorous dinosaur. It lived during the Late Jurassic (middle Kimmeridgian, about 154 million years ago) of northern Germany, and has been identified as an example of insular dwarfism resulting from the isolation of a sauropod population on an island within the Lower Saxony basin. Discovery and naming In 1998, a single sauropod tooth was discovered by private fossil collector Holger Lüdtke in an active quarry at Langenberg Mountain, between the communities of Oker, Harlingerode and Göttingerode in Germany. The Langenberg chalk quarry had been active for more than a century; rocks are quarried using blasting and are mostly processed into fertilisers. The quarry exposes a nearly continuous, thick succession of carbonate rocks belonging to the Süntel Formation, that ranges in age from the early Oxfordian to late Kimmeridgian stages and have been deposited in a shallow sea with a water depth of less than ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giraffatitan
''Giraffatitan'' (name meaning "titanic giraffe") is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived during the late Jurassic Period (geology), Period (Kimmeridgian–Tithonian stages) in what is now Lindi Region, Tanzania. It was originally named as an African species of ''Brachiosaurus'' (''B. brancai''), but this has since been moved to its own genus. ''Giraffatitan'' was for many decades known as the largest dinosaur but recent discoveries of several larger dinosaurs prove otherwise; giant titanosaurians appear to have surpassed ''Giraffatitan'' in terms of sheer mass. Also, the sauropod dinosaur ''Sauroposeidon'' is estimated to be taller and possibly heavier than ''Giraffatitan''. Most size estimates for ''Giraffatitan'' are based on the specimen HMN SII, a subadult individual, but there is evidence supporting that these animals could grow larger; specimen HMN XV2, represented by a fibula 13% larger than the corresponding material on HMN SII, might have attained in length and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vouivria
''Vouivria'' is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur, belonging to the Brachiosauridae, that lived in the area of present France during the Late Jurassic. The type species is ''Vouivria damparisensis''. History In 1926, the Solvay company began to exploit a chalkstone quarry at Belvoye, near Damparis in Franche-Comté. In April 1934, workers noticed the presence of large fossil bones in the southeastern face of the quarry. A scapula was shown to foreman Koehret who notified the company engineers Verhas and Chardin. They advised director Étienne Haerens to immediately excavate the marl lens containing the remains. Paleontologists Jean Piveteau and Raymond Ciry were asked to supervise this effort. The excavation started in May and was finished on 22 June 1934.Lapparent, A.-F. de, 1943, "Les dinosauriens jurassiques de Damparis (Jura)", ''Mémoires de la Société Géologique de France (Nouvelle Série)'' 47: 1-20 The same year, baron Jean de Dorlodot published an article ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sauropoda
Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their body), and four thick, pillar-like legs. They are notable for the enormous sizes attained by some species, and the group includes the largest animals to have ever lived on land. Well-known genera include ''Brachiosaurus'', ''Diplodocus'', ''Apatosaurus'' and ''Brontosaurus''. The oldest known unequivocal sauropod dinosaurs are known from the Early Jurassic. ''Isanosaurus'' and ''Antetonitrus'' were originally described as Triassic sauropods, but their age, and in the case of ''Antetonitrus'' also its sauropod status, were subsequently questioned. Sauropod-like sauropodomorph tracks from the Fleming Fjord Formation (Greenland) might, however, indicate the occurrence of the group in the Late Triassic. By the Late Jurassic (150 million yea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sauropod
Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their body), and four thick, pillar-like legs. They are notable for the enormous sizes attained by some species, and the group includes the largest animals to have ever lived on land. Well-known genera include ''Brachiosaurus'', ''Diplodocus'', ''Apatosaurus'' and ''Brontosaurus''. The oldest known unequivocal sauropod dinosaurs are known from the Early Jurassic. ''Isanosaurus'' and ''Antetonitrus'' were originally described as Triassic sauropods, but their age, and in the case of ''Antetonitrus'' also its sauropod status, were subsequently questioned. Sauropod-like sauropodomorph tracks from the Fleming Fjord Formation (Greenland) might, however, indicate the occurrence of the group in the Late Triassic. By the Late Jurassic (150 million yea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lusotitan
''Lusotitan'' is a genus of herbivorous brachiosaurid sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period of Portugal. Discovery and naming In 1947 Manuel de Matos, a member of the Geological Survey of Portugal, discovered large sauropod fossils in the Portuguese Lourinhã Formation that date back to the Tithonian stage of the Late Jurassic period. In 1957 Albert-Félix de Lapparent and Georges Zbyszewski named the remains as a new species of ''Brachiosaurus'': ''Brachiosaurus atalaiensis''. The specific name referred to the site Atalaia. In 2003 Octávio Mateus and Miguel Telles Antunes named it as a separate genus: ''Lusotitan.'' The type species is ''Lusotitan atalaiensis''. The generic name is derived from ''Luso'', the Latin name for an inhabitant of Lusitania, and from the Greek word " Titan", a mythological giant. The finds consisted of a partial skeleton lacking the skull and individual vertebrae uncovered in several locations. De Lapparent did not assign a holotype. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is the subject of active research. They became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event 201.3 mya; their dominance continued throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossil record shows that birds are feathered dinosaurs, having evolved from earlier theropods during the Late Jurassic epoch, and are the only dinosaur lineage known to have survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event approximately 66 mya. Dinosaurs can therefore be divided into avian dinosaurs—birds—and the extinct non-avian dinosaurs, which are all dinosaurs other than birds. Dinosaurs are varied from taxonomic, morphological and ecological standpoints. Birds, at over 10,700 living species, are among ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sonorasaurus
''Sonorasaurus'' is a genus of Brachiosauridae, brachiosaurid dinosaur from the Early to Late Cretaceous (Albian to Cenomanian faunal stage, stages, around 112 to 93 Mya (unit), million years ago). It was a Herbivore, herbivorous sauropod whose fossils have been found in southern Arizona in the United States. Its name, which means "Sonora lizard", comes from the Sonoran Desert where its fossils were first found. The type species is ''S. thompsoni'', described by Ratkevich in 1998. Discovery Fossilized remains were discovered in November 1994 by geology student Richard Thompson in the Turney Ranch Formation, located in the Chihuahua Desert region of the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona. Thompson had investigated a previously almost unexplored region, where fossils proved to be plentiful and directly accessible on the surface. A relatively complete sauropod skeleton was weathering out on a rock wall. He informed paleontologist Ronald Paul Ratkevich of the Arizona-Sonora Dese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soriatitan
''Soriatitan'' ("Soria titan") is a genus of brachiosaurid sauropod from the Early Cretaceous of Spain. It is known from one species, ''S. golmayensis'', found in the Golmayo Formation. It lived between 138 and 130 million years ago was identified by a team of paleontologists in Spain. Discovery and naming The only known specimen of ''Soriatitan'', ''S. golmayensis'', was discovered in the Golmayo Formation (upper Hauterivian–lower Barremian) in Soria province, Spain. The material was found in the Zorralbo 1 deposit located in the vicinity of the population of Golmayo. Excavation began in 2000 by a team of paleontologists from the province of Soria, and preparation began in 2009, aided by the Dinópolis Foundation. Description The known material of ''S. golmayensis'' (MNS 2001/122) consists of one tooth, three dorsal vertebrae with ribs, a partial sacrum, five caudal centra, two caudal vertebral spines, one chevron, a humerus, an ulna, a radius, two partial ilia, two ischi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atlasaurus
''Atlasaurus'' is a genus of sauropod dinosaurs from Middle Jurassic (Bathonian to Callovian stages) beds in North Africa.M. Monbaron, D. A. Russell, and P. Taquet. (1999). ''Atlasaurus imelakei'' n.g., n.sp., a brachiosaurid-like sauropod from the Middle Jurassic of Morocco. ''Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences à Paris, Sciences de la Terre et des Planètes'' 329:519-526. Description ''Atlasaurus'' differs from ''Brachiosaurus'' relative to the estimated length of the dorsal vertebral column (assuming 12 vertebrae, ), in having a proportionately larger skull, a shorter neck (with at least 13 cervical vertebrae, shorter and more uniform in length than ''Brachiosaurus''), a longer tail and more elongated limbs (humerus to femur ratio: 0.99; ulna to tibia ratio: 1.15). The teeth are spoon-shaped and have denticles. The lower jaw of ''Atlasaurus'' is about long, the neck was about long, the humerus long, and the femur about long. It has been estimated at in length, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pelorosaurus
''Pelorosaurus'' ( ; meaning "monstrous lizard") is a genus of titanosauriform sauropod dinosaur. Remains referred to ''Pelorosaurus'' date from the Early Cretaceous period, about 140-125 million years ago, and have been found in England and Portugal. Thomas Holtz estimated its length at 24 meters (79 feet). The name ''Pelorosaurus'' was one of the first to be given to any sauropod. Many species have been assigned to the genus historically, but most are currently considered to belong to other genera. Problematically, the first named species of ''Pelorosaurus'', ''P.conybeari'', is a junior synonym of ''Cetiosaurus brevis''. History ''Pelorosaurus'' was the first sauropod to be identified as a dinosaur, although it was not the first to be discovered. Richard Owen had discovered ''Cetiosaurus'' in 1841 but had incorrectly identified it as a gigantic sea-going crocodile-like reptile. Mantell identified ''Pelorosaurus'' as a dinosaur, living on land. The taxonomic history of ''Pelo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
