In Depth Pradhania is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived in what is now India during the Early Jurassic. Later analysis of the genus has interpreted Pradhania as massospondylid. Pradhania likely shared the same habitat as the genus Lamplughsaura which is also known from the same formation. Further Reading - Basal sauropodomorphs (Dinosauria, Saurischia) … Read more
In Depth With a rib that is three meters long, Huanghetitan is thought to have had one of the deepest bodies of any known animal. This is but a hint of the size of this sauropod dinosaur which is considered to have been one of the largest sauropods (and by extension vertebrates) to ever walk … Read more
In Depth Very little can be said about this titanosaur because it is only represented by a single caudal (tail) vertebrae. In addition to this the palaeontologist who named Khetranisaurus, M. Sadiq Malkani, also named three other titanosaurs Sulaimanisaurus, Pakisaurus and Balochisaurus, Marisaurus in that same year, all from only caudal vertebrae. The first two … Read more
In Depth Dicraeosaurid sauropods (as typified by Dicraeosaurus) are noted for having proportionately shorter necks, but even out of all these Brachytrachelopan has the shortest. This is in stark contrast to other sauropod types in other parts of the world such as Mamenchisaurus and Sauroposiedon which all show a progression towards a longer neck specialisation. … Read more
In Depth Leonerasaurus is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur that is known to have lived in South America during the early Jurassic. Leonerasaurus is notable for having a mix of physical characteristics that are seen in both sauropodomorph dinosaurs as well as later sauropods, though current thinking is that Leonerasaurus was a sauropodomorph, but one … Read more
In Depth 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 … Read more
In Depth Plateosaurus is probably the best understood sauropodomorph dinosaur currently known, and also one of the oldest dinosaur genera. Named in 1837, Plateosaurus actually predated the creation of the Dinosauria by Richard Owen in 1842, though the genus missed out on being one of the defining dinosaur genera (instead Owen used Megalosaurus, Iguanodon and … Read more
In Depth Further Reading - A new sauropod dinosaur of Cretaceous from Jingshan, Zhejiang province. - Vertebrata PalAsiatica 39(4):272-281. - F. Tang, X.-M. Kang, Z.-S. Jin, F. Wei & W.-T. Wu - 2001.
In Depth Yizhousaurus is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived in Asia during the early Jurassic, and is a rare example of such a dinosaur where the skull is known, and in an almost perfect state. Further Reading - A new sauropodiform dinosaur with a ‘sauropodan’ skull from the Lower Jurassic Lufeng Formation of … Read more
In Depth Klamelisaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in what is now China during the Mid Jurassic. Klamelisaurus has been noted as being very similar in form to an earlier named genus named Bellusaurus, though in addition to this, some have gone further to say that Klamelisaurus might actually be the adult … Read more