Atlasaurus
Name:
Atlasaurus
(Atlas lizard).
Phonetic: At-las-sore-us.
Named By: Monbaron, Russell, & Taquet
- 1999.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropoda.
Species: A. imelakei (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: About 15 meters long.
Known locations: Morocco - Guettioua Formation.
Time period: Bathonian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Almost complete skeleton and
skull.
Atlasaurus
was named after the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. These in turn were
named after the Titan Atlas who in Greek Mythology was said to hold up
the sky. The species name A. imelakei comes
from the Arabic
Imelake, the name of a giant.
Atlasaurus
was once treated as a fairly primitive sauropod
similar to genera like
Cetiosaurus,
but more modern analysis has seen Atlasaurus to
have
been similar to Brachiosaurus.
Atlasaurus however is seems as having
a larger head, shorter neck, longer tail and more elongated limbs
than Brachiosaurus. Atlasaurus
had teeth that are similar to some of
its relatives in that they were spatulate in form with denticles.
These would have cropped high growing vegetation which was then
swallowed.
Further reading
- Atlasaurus imelakei n.g., n.sp., a
brachiosaurid-like sauropod from
the Middle Jurassic of Morocco - Monbaron, Russell, &
Taquet - 1999.
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