Datousaurus
Name:
Datousaurus
(either ‘Chieftain lizard’ or ‘Big head lizard’).
Phonetic: Dah-too-sore-us.
Named By: Z. Dong & Z. Tang - 1984.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropodomorpha, Sauropoda, Eusauropoda,
Mamenchisauridae.
Species: D. bashanensis
(type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: About 15 meters long.
Known locations: China - Dashanpu (Lower
Shaximiao) Formation.
Time period: Oxfordian/Kimmeridgian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Partial skeletons of two
individuals.
At
fifteen meters long it could be said that Datousaurus
was a lower
average in terms of sauropod
sizes of the Jurassic era. The skull of
Datousaurus is noted as being deep with
‘spoon-shaped’ teeth for
processing plants. Datousaurus is also noted for
having a higher
reach than some other sauropods that lived around the same time and
location as it did.
As
a member of the Mamenchisauridae, Datousaurus was
of course related
to the type genus of this group, Mamenchisaurus,
which is also
known from the same fossil bearing formation as Datousaurus.
Other
sauropods from the Dashanpu formation include Omeisaurus,
Shunosaurus
and Dashanpusaurus.
Possible predators of Datousaurus, particularly
of smaller juveniles could include the theropod dinosaurs
Yangchuanosaurus,
Kaijiangosaurus
and Xuanhanosaurus,
all of which
are known from the Lower Shaximiao of the Dashanpu Formation.
Further reading
- Note on a new Mid-Jurassic sauropod (Datousaurus
bashanensis
gen. et sp. nov.) from Sichuan Basin, Z. Dong & Z.
Tang - 1984.
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