Dinheirosaurus
Name:
Dinheirosaurus
(Porto Dineheiro lizard).
Phonetic: Din-hy-roe-sore-us.
Named By: J. F. Bonaparte & O.
Mateus - 1999.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Sauropodomorpha, Diplodocidae, Diplodocinae.
Species: D. lourinhanensis (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Uncertain, but roughly estimated to be about
20 to 25 meters long.
Known locations: Portugal - Camadas de Alcobaca
Formation.
Time period: Kimmeridgian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Partial post cranial remains
including ribs, vertebrae and limbs.
Fossils of Dinheirosaurus were first treated as belonging to Lourinhasaurus until new study ascertained that they were of a different genus. For some time afterwards there was still speculation that this was a mistake and that Dinheirosaurus should be regarded as a synonym to Lourinhasaurus, but even further study has now established without doubt that the two genera are definitely separate. Dinheirosaurus is regarded as being a diplodocid sauropod, similar to the North American genus Diplodocus. Lourinhasaurus however is regarded as being similar to Camarasaurus, a very different kind of sauropod. As a diplodocid, Dinheirosaurus was probably best suited to browsing upon low growing vegetation from above rather than reaching up into the trees.
Further reading
- A new diplodocid, Dinheirosaurus lourinhanensis
gen. et sp.
nov., from the Late Jurassic beds of Portugal, J. F.
Bonaparte & O. Mateus - 1999.
- New information on the anatomy and systematic position of
Dinheirosaurus lourinhanensis (Sauropoda:
Diplodocoidea) from the Late
Jurassic of Portugal, with a review of European diplodocoids. - Journal
of Systematic Palaeontology. 10 (3): 521–551. - P. D, Mannion,
P. Upchurch, O. Mateus, R. N. Barnes & M. E. H. Jones - 2012.
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