Suuwassea
Name: Suuwassea
(Ancient Thunder).
Phonetic: Soo-wah-see-ah.
Named By: J. D. Harris & P. Dodson
- 2004.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropoda, Diplodocoidea.
Species: S. emilieae (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Estimated about 14- 15 meters long.
Known locations: USA, Montana, Carbon County
- Morrison Formation.
Time period: Tithonian? of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Partial post cranial skeleton.
Although it seems to have lived towards the end of the Jurassic, Suuwassea appears to have been a basal diplodocid sauropod dinosaur that was more primitive in form than other better known sauropods such as Diplodocus and Apatosaurus. This would make Suuwassea a late surviving form. At an estimated length approaching fifteen meters, the Suuwassea holotype individual would have been considerably smaller than many other North American diplodocids, and perhaps at greater risk from predatory theroopd dinosaurs similar to genera such as Allosaurus and Torvosaurus.
Further reading
- A new diplodocoid sauropod dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic
Morrison Formation of Montana, USA. - Acta Palaeontologica
Polonica 49(2):197-210 - J. D. Harris and P. Dodson
- 2004.
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