Erketu
Name: Erketu
(after the Mongolian deity).
Phonetic: Er-ke-tu.
Named By: Daniel T. Ksepka & Mark A.
Norell - 2006.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropodomorpha, Sauropoda, Titanosauriformes.
Species: E. ellisoni (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Uncertain but roughly estimated to have been
about 15 meters long.
Known locations: Mongolia - Baynshire Formation.
Time period: Cenomanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial post cranial
skeleton, composed mostly of neck vertebrae and partial hind limbs.
Erketu is a genus of sauropod that is noted for having a very long neck in proportion to the rest of the body. So extreme was this neck that it likely took up at least half of the total body length. Despite this, other genera such as Mamenchisaurus may have had an even greater neck length in proportion to the body.
Further reading
- Erketu ellisoni, a long-necked sauropod from
Bor Guv� (Dornogov
Aimag, Mongolia) - American Museum Novitates 3508: 1-16 -
Daniel T. Ksepka & Mark A. Norell - 2006.
- The Illusory Evidence for Asian Brachiosauridae: New Material of
Erketu ellisoni and a Phylogenetic Reappraisal of Basal
Titanosauriformes. - American Museum Novitates (3700). - D. T. Ksepka
& M. A. Norell - 2010.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Random favourites
 |
 |
 |