In Depth The discovery, naming and reconstruction of Diplodocus Two factors have helped make Diplodocus famous all over the world. The first is that for a long time Diplodocus was thought to be the largest (at least in terms of length) dinosaur known to walk the Earth. The second is the large number of skeletal … Read more
In Depth Like with many dinosaurs, the remains of Elaltitan were originally described as belonging to another genus. Originally assigned by Bonarparte and Gasparini to Antarctosaurus in 1979, the remains were later described as Argyrosaurus by Jaime Powell. Later study of the remains by Philip Mannion and Alejandro Otero led to several key differences being … Read more
In Depth Dongbeititan is a genus of macronarian sauropod that lived in China during the early Cretaceous. As a macrocnarian, Dongbeititan would have been similar in form to genera such as Lusotitan, Janenshcia and Daanosaurus. Further Reading - Dongbeititan dongi, the first sauropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Jehol Group of western Liaoning Province, China. … Read more
In Depth Aardonyx is a very special sauropodomorph as it represents the transitional stage between bipedal ancestors and quadrupedal descendants. This change is most evident when examining the legs, which show adaptations for a slower, yet more powerful method of walking. These changes combined with an increasingly quadrupedal method of weight bearing would allow the … Read more
In Depth Chuxiongosaurus is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived in China during the very early Jurassic. For this reason Chuxiongosaurus is often remembered as the first basal sauropodomorph dinosaur to be discovered in an early Jurassic aged deposit in China. When compared to other sauropodomorph genera, Chuxiongosaurus is noted as being similar to … Read more
In Depth A very exciting find, the juvenile specimen of Rapetosaurus is to date the most complete titanosaurid skeleton ever found. This has allowed many of the gaps in the understanding of these dinosaurs to be filled in, including how the titanosaurs fit in among the sauropod group. This new understanding of titanosaur morphology has … Read more
In Depth Abydosaurus is the first early Cretaceous era sauropod from the USA to have an identifiable skull. This skull and other post cranial elements confirm its identity as a brachiosaurid sauropod, though one with unusually thin teeth for its kind. Remains of at least four individuals of Abydosaurus have been recovered and it seems … Read more
In Depth Glacialisaurus is the first genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur known from Antarctica. Though only known from a few hind limb bones, these are enough to identify Glacialisaurus as a massospondylid sauropodomorph dinosaur, as well as possible close relative of Lufengosaurus from China. From the same fossil formation that the Glacialisaurus holotype remains are known … Read more
In Depth Initially considered to be a Southern population of Massospondylus, Adeopapposaurus was established as an independent genus in 2009. Adeopapposaurus is an unusual sauropodomorph since it appears to have had a keratinous beak to its mouth. If correct, then this may have been a feeding specialisation for snipping off foliage from plants. Further Reading … Read more
In Depth Dicraeosaurus was relatively small by sauropod standards, but was still a bit larger than Amargasaurus, so far the only other known member of its group. Dicraeosaurus sported a double row of spines down its back that are similar to those seen on the back of Amargasaurus. We cannot be certain what these spike … Read more