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Eusauropoda
Eusauropoda (meaning "true sauropods") is a derived clade of sauropod dinosaurs. Eusauropods represent the node-based group that includes all descendant sauropods starting with the basal eusauropods of ''Shunosaurus'', and possibly ''Barapasaurus'', and ''Amygdalodon'', but excluding ''Vulcanodon'' and ''Rhoetosaurus''. The Eusauropoda was coined in 1995 by Paul Upchurch to create a monophyletic new taxonomic group that would include all sauropods, except for the vulcanodontids. Eusauropoda are herbivorous, quadrupedal, and have long necks. They have been found in South America, Europe, North America, Asia, Australia, and Africa. The temporal range of Eusauropoda ranges from the early Jurassic to the Latest Cretaceous periods. The most basal forms of eusauropods are not well known and because the cranial material for the ''Vulcanodon'' is not available, and the distribution of some of these shared derived traits that distinguish Eusauropoda is still completely clear. Descriptio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spinophorosaurus
''Spinophorosaurus'' is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Niger during the Middle Jurassic period. The first two specimens were excavated in the 2000s by German and Spanish teams under difficult conditions. The skeletons were brought to Europe and digitally replicated, making ''Spinophorosaurus'' the first sauropod to have its skeleton 3D printed, and were to be returned to Niger in the future. Together, the two specimens represented most of the skeleton of the genus, and one of the most completely known basal sauropods of its time and place. The first skeleton was made the holotype specimen of the new genus and species ''Spinophorosaurus nigerensis'' in 2009; the generic name ("spine-bearing lizard") refers to what was initially thought to be spiked osteoderms, and the specific name (Niger and -ensis) refers to where it was found. A juvenile sauropod from the same area was later assigned to the genus. The subadult holotype specimen is estimated to have be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cetiosauriscus
''Cetiosauriscus'' ( ) is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived between 166 and 164 million years ago during the Callovian (Middle Jurassic Period) in what is now England. A herbivore, ''Cetiosauriscus'' had — by sauropod standards — a moderately long tail, and longer forelimbs, making them as long as its hindlimbs. It has been estimated as about long and between in weight. The only known fossil includes most of the rear half of a skeleton as well as a hindlimb (NHMUK R3078). Found in Cambridgeshire in the 1890s, it was described by Arthur Smith Woodward in 1905 as a new specimen of the species '' Cetiosaurus leedsi''. This was changed in 1927, when Friedrich von Huene found NHMUK R3078 and the ''C. leedsi'' type specimen to be too different from ''Cetiosaurus'', warranting its own genus, which he named ''Cetiosauriscus'', meaning "''Cetiosaurus''-like". ''Cetiosauriscus leedsi'' was referred to the sauropod family Diplodocidae because of similarities in the tail an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bagualia
''Bagualia'' (meaning "wild horse" in Spanish, after Bagual Canyon, the type locality), is an extinct genus of eusauropod dinosaur, from the Early Jurassic Epoch in what is now Argentina. The type species, ''B. alba'', was formally described in 2020. Description Remains of ''Bagualia'' consist of many bones from three individuals, including vertebrae from the neck, limb bones, as well as skull and teeth fragments. The size of ''Bagualia'' was likely brought on by a newly formed ecosystem and climate shifts, which were all caused by volcanic activity in the Southern hemisphere during the Early Jurassic. While the harsh climate and ashes drove most sauropodomorphs to extinction, ''Bagualia'' was able to adapt to newly-sprouted conifers and plants, using its long neck to snip plant matter from them while staying in place, conserving energy. Its teeth are surrounded by a thick layer of enamel, roughly 7x thicker than other extinct herbivores, enabling the animal to better shear coni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barapasaurus
''Barapasaurus'' ( ) is a genus of basal sauropod dinosaur from Early Jurassic rocks of India. The only species is ''B. tagorei''. ''Barapasaurus'' comes from the lower part of the Kota Formation, that dates back to the Sinemurian and Pliensbachian stages of the early Jurassic. It is therefore one of the earliest known sauropods. ''Barapasaurus'' is known from approximately 300 bones from at least six individuals, so that the skeleton is almost completely known except for the anterior cervical vertebrae and the skull. This makes ''Barapasaurus'' one of the most completely known sauropods from the early Jurassic. Etymology The name ''Barapasaurus'' ("big-legged lizard") is derived from ''bara'' meaning 'big' and ''pa'' meaning 'leg' in several Indian languages including Bengali; the Greek word ''sauros'' means 'lizard'. This name was used as a ''nomen nudum'' since a femur measuring over 1.7 m was unearthed at 1961. The specific name ''tagorei'' means 'Tagore's', which honors ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neosauropoda
Neosauropoda is a clade within Dinosauria, coined in 1986 by Argentine paleontologist José Bonaparte and currently described as ''Saltasaurus loricatus'', ''Diplodocus longus'', and all animals directly descended from their most recent common ancestor. The group is composed of two subgroups: Diplodocoidea and Macronaria. Arising in the early Jurassic and persisting until the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, Neosauropoda contains the majority of sauropod genera, including genera such as ''Apatosaurus'', ''Brachiosaurus'', and ''Diplodocus''. It also includes giants such as '' Argentinosaurus'', '' Patagotitan'' and '' Sauroposeidon'', and its members remain the largest land animals ever to have lived. When Bonaparte first coined the term Neosauropoda in 1986, he described the clade as comprising “end-Jurassic” sauropods. While Neosauropoda does appear to have originated at the end of the Jurassic period, it also includes members throughout the Cretaceous. Neosaurop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turiasauria
Turiasauria is an unranked clade of basal sauropod dinosaurs known from Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous deposits in Europe, North America, and Africa. Description Turiasauria was originally erected by Royo-Torres et al. (2006) to include ''Turiasaurus'', ''Galveosaurus'' and ''Losillasaurus'', all of which hail from the Villar del Arzobispo Formation (Tithonian-Berriasian) of Spain. Turiasuria was defined by the authors as "all Eusauropoda closer to ''Turiasaurus riodevensis'' than to ''Saltasaurus loricatus''". Cladistic analysis (Royo-Torres ''et al.'', 2006; 1927) of 309 characters and 33 taxa suggests that the turiasaurians lie outside the Neosauropoda and form a monophyletic group. The clade is diagnosed by the presence of vertical neural spines, posterior centroparapohyseal laminae on the dorsal vertebrae, the absence of pre- and postspinal laminae on the dorsal vertebrae, the absence of a scapular acromial crest, the presence of a prominent humeral deltopectoral crest, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amygdalodon
''Amygdalodon'' (; "almond tooth" for its almond shaped teeth) was a genus of basal sauropod from the Middle Jurassic of Argentina. The type species is ''Amygdalodon patagonicus''. Fossils of ''Amygdalodon'' have been found in the Toarcian Cerro Carnerero Formation of the Jurassic (about 180-172 million years ago). Very little is known about it, but it is one of the few Jurassic dinosaurs from South America found thus far. Discovery The holotype (MLP 46-VIII-21-1) consists of some vertebrae, ribs, four complete and three partial teeth, and a partial pelvis and shoulder-blade, of which was discovered in 1936. The type species, ''Amygdalodon patagonicus'', was described by Cabrera in Argentina in 1947.A. Cabrera. 1947. Un saurópodo nuevo del Jurásico de Patagonia. Instituto del Museo de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata, ''Notas del Museo de La Plata, Paleontología'' 12(95):1–17 Until 1936 sauropod fossils from Argentina were completely unknown then, prompted by Piatnitzky' ... [...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] |
Shunosaurus
''Shunosaurus'', meaning "shu lizard", is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from Late Jurassic ( Oxfordian) beds in Sichuan Province in China, approximately 159±2 million years ago. The name derives from "Shu", an ancient name for the Sichuan province. Discovery and species The first fossil of ''Shunosaurus'' was discovered in 1977 by a group of students, practising paleontological excavation at a road bank. The type species, ''Shunosaurus lii'', was described and named by Dong Zhiming, Zhou Shiwu and Zhang Yihong in 1983. The generic name derives from "Shu", an ancient name for Sichuan. The specific name honours hydrologist Li Bing, the governor of Sichuan in the third century BC. The holotype, IVPP V.9065, was collected from the Lower Xiashaximiao Formation near Dashanpu, Zigong. It consists of a partial skeleton. Later about twenty more major specimens were discovered, including several complete or near-complete skeletons, skulls and juveniles, making ''Shunosaurus'' on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jobaria
''Jobaria'' is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Niger during the middle Jurassic Period, between 164 and 161 million years ago. ''Jobaria'' is currently the only known valid sauropod from the Tiouraren, where it was discovered in 1997. Description ''Jobaria'' was a primitive sauropod, about long and estimated to weigh about . In 2016 Gregory S. Paul gave a lower estimation of and . Its backbone and tail were simple compared to the complex vertebrae and whiplash tail of the later North America sauropods ''Diplodocus'' and ''Apatosaurus''. It may also have been able to rear up on its hind legs as Paul Sereno concluded, after comparing the ratios of humerus and femur circumferences in ''Jobaria'' to extant elephants. The weight distribution of ''Jobaria'' indicates that it was supported by the rear limbs rather than the forelimbs (as in elephants) and is speculated that as elephants can rear up, then ''Jobaria'' would have been able to more easily. The h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mamenchisauridae
Mamenchisauridae is a family of sauropod dinosaurs belonging to Eusauropoda known from the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of Asia and Africa. Some members of the group reached gigantic sizes, amongst the largest of all sauropods. Classification The family Mamenchisauridae was first erected by Chinese paleontologists Yang Zhongjian ("C.C. Young") and Zhao Xijin in 1972, in a paper describing '' Mamenchisaurus hochuanensis''.Young, C.C. and Zhao, X. (1972). "''Mamenchisaurus hochuanensis sp. nov.''". ''Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology Monographs'' Series A 8: 1-30. The most complete cladogram of Mamenchisauridae is presented by Moore ''et al.'', 2020, which includes several named species. Notably, some iterations of their analysis recover ''Euhelopus'' and kin, usually considered somphospondylians, as relatives of mamenchisaurids, mirroring earlier conceptions about the family. Topology A: Implied-weights analysis, Gonzàlez Riga dataset Topology B: Ti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cetiosauridae
Cetiosauridae is a family of sauropod dinosaurs which was first proposed by Richard Lydekker in 1888. While traditionally a wastebasket taxon containing various unrelated species, some recent studies have found that it may represent a natural clade. Alongside ''Cetiosaurus'' from the Middle Jurassic of Britain, other taxa recently assigned to the family include ''Lapparentosaurus'' from the Middle Jurassic of Madagascar, and ''Patagosaurus'' from the late Early-Middle Jurassic of Patagonia, which share autapomorphies with ''Cetiosaurus'' that are not shared by other eusauropods. Additionally, at least one study has suggested that the mamenchisaurids Mamenchisauridae is a family of sauropod dinosaurs belonging to Eusauropoda known from the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of Asia and Africa. Some members of the group reached gigantic sizes, amongst the largest of all sauropods. Classification T ... may represent a sub-group of the cetiosaurids, which would be termed Mamenchisau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
