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
In Depth When looking up what is the biggest dinosaur, people usually get presented with the image of a sauropod, but the exact owner of this title depends upon a number of factors, particularly the definition of largest be it by length, height or weight. Although incomplete, Sauroposeidon is thought to be one of the … Read more
In Depth Barapasaurus was an Early Jurassic sauropod that seems to be caught in between other sauropod forms. The vertebrae of Barapasaurus are solid which has seen this sauropod placed within the Cetiosauridae, however the narrow sacrum is more characteristic of the Vulcanodontidae sauropods. Palaeontologists are split as to which placement is the most valid … Read more
In Depth The modern history of the sauropod dinosaur Barosaurus begins in 1889 with the discovery of the first Barosaurus fossils by a Ms E. R. Ellerman in South Dakota. Six caudal (tail) vertebrae were subsequently recovered by the famous American palaeontologist Othniel Charles Marsh later that year, though other remains were left at the … Read more
In Depth Living in the late Triassic, Ingentia is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that already shows thickening of bones and a growth to a large stocky size, a foreshadowing of the huge sizes that sauropod dinosaurs would attain in the Jurassic. Since being named Ingentia is regarded as being similar in form to other … Read more
In Depth Patagosaurus is one of the earliest sauropods known to have roamed South America, however it’s usually the Cretaceous genera such as Amargasaurus, Saltasaurus and Argentinosaurus that usually get all of the attention. At eighteen meters long Patagosaurus was big for a mid-Jurassic era sauropod, yet it was not as advanced as the sauropods … Read more
In Depth As a macronarian sauropod, Tehuelchesaurus is thought to have had a body form better for reaching up to high growing vegetation rather than sweeping across a broad area to browse upon low growing vegetation like a diplodocid. Although only known from South America, Tehuelchesaurus is actually thought to be very similar in form … Read more
In Depth Isanosaurus is recognised as being one of the first sauropods to appear on the planet, replacing the previous earliest sauropod title holder Vulcanodon. It should be mentioned here that at the time Vulcanodon was thought to have lived in the early Hettangian stage of the Jurassic, just after the Triassic/Jurassic boundary, though a … Read more