In Depth Venenosaurus, meaning ‘poison lizard’ acquired its name from being discovered in the Poison Strip Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation, while the type species, V. dicrocei, is in honour of Tony DiCroce, the person who first discovered the remains. Other sauropod dinosaurs from the Cedar Mountain Formation, albeit from different Members, include Abydosaurus, … Read more
In Depth In 2006 the palaeontologists M. Sadiq Malkani described five new genera of titanosaur, Marisaurus, Balochisaurus, Sulaimanisaurus, Khetranisaurus and Pakisaurus, all from caudal vertebrae. From these only Marisaurus and Balochisaurus have had skull remains attributed to them, and only Marisaurus has (partial) rear limb bones attributed to the genus. Marisaurus and Balochisaurus were also … Read more
In Depth Uberabatitan is a genus of titanosaurid sauropod dinosaur that is known from the Marilla Formation of the bauru group of Brazil. Being Maastrichtian in age, Uberabatitan would have been one of the last titanosaurs to live before the KT extinction ended the reign of the dinosaurs. Further Reading - Uberabatitan ribeiroi, a new … Read more
In Depth Baotianmansaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur known to have lived in China during the late Cretaceous. The known remains of Baotianmansaurus are very incomplete which means that it is still unknown what kind of sauropod Baotianmansaurus was, though it is usually classed as a titanosauriform. Additional details such as weight, length and … Read more
In Depth One of the most common European sauropods of the Jurassic, Cetiosaurus is actually one of the most primitive. In more advanced sauropods the vertebrae are hollow as a weight saving feature, however Cetiosaurus has solid vertebrae which hint at its basal position in the evolution of sauropods. These solid vertebrae are similar to … Read more
In Depth Vulcanodon is easily one of the more popular dinosaur genera, and one that has had a number of ‘firsts’ attributed to it. However, our understanding of this genus and changed considerably since it was first described in 1972. The name Vulcanodon means ‘volcano tooth’ and is a reference to the discovery of Vulcanodon … Read more
In Depth Fossils of Sibirotitan were first found in Russia during the 1950s, but not named until the disarticulated bones were put together and finally given a name in 2018. At the time of the genus description, Sibirotitan was regarded as one of the oldest titanisauriform sauropod dinosaurs on the Asian continent. Further detail than … Read more
In Depth Bonitasaura is a genus of what seems to have been fairly small titanosaurs that lived in Argentina during the Late Cretaceous. The holotype individual seems to have been a subadult, which means that while it was sexually mature, it still would not have been fully grown. During this phase of its life though, … Read more
In Depth Savannasaurus is a genus of titanosaur that lived in Australia doing the Cretaceous. Hailing from the Winton Formation of Queensland, Savannasaurus would have been in the same habitat as other dinosaurs such as Diamantinasaurus, Austrosaurus and Wintonotitan. Savannasaurus seems to have been quite similar to Diamantinasaurus in form. Possible predatory threats to Savannasaurus … Read more
In Depth Zapalasaurus is another example of an early cretaceous era diplodocoid sauropod, a find significant in itself since many diplodocid genera are dated to the Late Jurassic. Further to its inclusion within the Diplodocoidea, Zapalasaurus has been included as a member of the Rebbachisauridae, a sub group of the Diplodocoidea that includes other Cretaceous … Read more