In Depth Opisthocoelicaudia is a bit of a mouthful to say but is based upon the structure of the caudal vertebrae. The vertebrae connect in a ball and socket fashion, and while the socket part is usually found to point forwards, it’s actually reversed to point backwards in Opisthocoelicaudia. Since this initial discovery however the … Read more
In Depth Sulaimanisaurus was described by M. Sadiq Malkani in 2006 from seven caudal (tail) vertebrae, with a further four attributed to the genus. Sulaimanisaurus was then classed into the Pakisauridae, created by Malkani, along with Khetranisaurus and Pakisaurus (the latter being the type genus), two more titanosaurs described by Malkani only from caudal vertebrae. … Read more
In Depth Mierasaurus is a genus of turiasaurian sauropod dinosaur that lived in Western North America during the early Cretaceous. Mierasaurus along with the genus Moabosaurus represent at the time of writing some of the last known Turiasaurian sauropod dinosaurs to exist. Further Reading - Descendants of the Jurassic turiasaurs from Iberia found refuge in … Read more
In Depth Ohmdenosaurus is a little known genus of sauropod, and perhaps not surprisingly known by very little remains. These remains have in the past been attributed to the Vulcanodontidae group of sauropods, though this group has also been problematic in its classification in the past, in fact for a time the group fell into … Read more
In Depth Eobrontosaurus was initially described as a new species of Apatosaurus called A. yahnahpin by James Filla and Patrick Redman in 1994. However when the material was re-examined by Robert Bakker in 1998 he found that it represented a similar but more primitive sauropod dinosaur to Apatosaurus. The second species of Apatosaurus, A. excelsus, … Read more
In Depth Named from a partial braincase, Vahiny is the second genus of titanosaurid dinosaur to be discovered in the Maevarano Formation of Madagascar, with the first being Rapetosaurus. The titanosaur Rapetosaurus has attained almost legendary status since it was named due to the fact that it is the most complete titanosaur discovered and represented … Read more
In Depth Named from only four caudal vertebrae, Pakisaurus is a genus that faces a future where without further remains, it will probably end up being regarded as a dubious genus. This is because even if new titanosaurian sauropod fossils are discovered, they cannot be confidently assigned to the genus unless they are found in … Read more
In Depth Haplocanthosaurus was a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the late Jurassic period. The name Haplocanthosaurus was actually the second choice of name for this dinosaur as the palaeontologist who first described it, John Bell Hatcher, originally chose the name Haplocanthus. However, after this Hatcher became aware of a … Read more
In Depth Although Demandasaurus is not represented by a lot of complete fossil material, it has been identified as a rebbachisaurid sauropod. As a rebbachisaurid, Demandasaurus was a form of diplodocid sauropod, and an offshoot of the Dicraeosaurinae. Demandasaurus would have course been related to the type genus of the Rebbachisauridae, Rebbachisaurus, but it has … Read more
In Depth Daxiatitan is another one of the really big early Cretaceous sauropods from China. The holotype remains are considered to be from an individual twenty-one meters long, though Daxiatitan is also thought to have possibly also grown bigger than this. Daxiatitan was named after branch of the Huang He River. Another large sauropod with … Read more