In Depth One of the most common European sauropods of the Jurassic, Cetiosaurus is actually one of the most primitive. In more advanced sauropods the vertebrae are hollow as a weight saving feature, however Cetiosaurus has solid vertebrae which hint at its basal position in the evolution of sauropods. These solid vertebrae are similar to … Read more
In Depth Fossils of Schleitheimia were originally recovered in the early 1950s by Emil Schutz, then in 1986 named as belonging to Plateosaurus. A subsequent study of the fossils in 2020 (Rauhut et al) found them different enough to warrant the creation of a new genus. The name Schleitheimia is derived from the name Schleitheim, … Read more
In Depth Riojasaurus was and still often is credited as being related to Melanorosaurus, though detailed study of the two genera does turn up some key differences. These two genera are both significant in the development of the sauropodomorphs into the large sauropods common by the late Jurassic in that they are both large and … Read more
In Depth Gryponyx was first named by Robert Broom in 1911who when he described this dinosaur thought that he was naming a theropod dinosaur. This assessment was seconded in 1932 when Friedrich von Huene classified Gryponyx in with the Carnosauria. By 1976 Gryponyx was realised to actually be a sauropodomorph dinosaur (the group ancestral to … Read more
In Depth Pulanesaura is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in South Africa during the early Jurassic. Though only known from partial remains and with much of the neck missing, available fossils do show that Pulanesaura was already developing the very long neck that would be a signature feature of the sauropods by the … Read more
In Depth Vulcanodon is easily one of the more popular dinosaur genera, and one that has had a number of ‘firsts’ attributed to it. However, our understanding of this genus and changed considerably since it was first described in 1972. The name Vulcanodon means ‘volcano tooth’ and is a reference to the discovery of Vulcanodon … Read more
In Depth Fossils of Sibirotitan were first found in Russia during the 1950s, but not named until the disarticulated bones were put together and finally given a name in 2018. At the time of the genus description, Sibirotitan was regarded as one of the oldest titanisauriform sauropod dinosaurs on the Asian continent. Further detail than … Read more
In Depth Bonitasaura is a genus of what seems to have been fairly small titanosaurs that lived in Argentina during the Late Cretaceous. The holotype individual seems to have been a subadult, which means that while it was sexually mature, it still would not have been fully grown. During this phase of its life though, … Read more
In Depth When first described in 1979, Mussaurus was only known from juvenile individuals, and until 2013 this was supposedly the case. However in 1980 the adult were actually described, they had just been classed under the genus Plateosaurus. With a re-evaluation of these in 2013, Mussaurus is also known from adult remains, and the … Read more
In Depth Savannasaurus is a genus of titanosaur that lived in Australia doing the Cretaceous. Hailing from the Winton Formation of Queensland, Savannasaurus would have been in the same habitat as other dinosaurs such as Diamantinasaurus, Austrosaurus and Wintonotitan. Savannasaurus seems to have been quite similar to Diamantinasaurus in form. Possible predatory threats to Savannasaurus … Read more