In Depth
Along with Magyarosaurus, Ampelosaurus is currently one of the best known sauropods from Europe and is in fact another example of a Late Cretaceous era titanosaur. Remains of Ampelosaurus have been found in what would have been a floodplain in the late Cretaceous. However when the fossils were discovered they were now near a vineyard (a place where grapes are grown for the purpose of making wine) which inspired the name Ampelosaurus which means ‘vine lizard’.
Despite the fact that the skull of Ampelosaurus is still only known from partial remains, there is still enough of this dinosaur, particularly the post cranial skeleton, to reconstruct Ampelosaurus with confidence. The neck of Ampelosaurus is quite short in proportion to the body, something which could indicate a specialisation in low to medium height vegetation. Like with many other titanosaurs, Ampelosaurus also had bony armour called osteoderms (alternatively scutes) which were bony plates that grew within the skin.
Another titanosaur sauropod that lived in France at the end of the Cretaceous period is Hypselosaurus.
Further Reading
– Ampelosaurus atacis (nov. gen., nov. sp.), un nouveau Titanosauridae (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) du Cr�tac� sup�rieur de la Haute Vall�e de l’Aude (France)” (PDF). Comptes Rendus de l’Acad�mie des Sciences. IIa. 321: 693–699. – J. Le Loeuff – 1995. – Ampelosaurus atacis, the dinosaur of the wineyard. – The Dinosaur Society UK Quarterly. 1 (4): 1–2. – L. Le Loeuff & E. Buffetaut – 1996. – Osteology of Ampelosaurus atacis (Titanosauria) from Southern France. – J. Le Loeuff – 2005. – Modified Laminar Bone in Ampelosaurus atacis and Other Titanosaurs (Sauropoda): Implications for Life History and Physiology. – PLoS ONE. 7 (5): e36907. – N. Klein, P. M. Sander, K. Stein, J. Le Loeuff, J. L. Carballido & E. Buffetaut (Andrew A. Farke (ed.)) – 2010. – Neurocranial Osteology and Neuroanatomy of a Late Cretaceous Titanosaurian Sauropod from Spain (Ampelosaurus sp.). – F. Knoll, R. C. Ridgely, F. Ortega, J. Sanz & L. M. Witmer – 2013.
