Name:
Austroposeidon
(Southern Poseidon).
Phonetic: Oss-tro-po-sy-don.
Named By: K. L. N. Bandeira, F. Medeiros
Simbras, E. Batista Machado, D. Almeida Campos, G. R.
Oliveira & A. W. A. Kellner - 2016.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropoda, Macronaria, Titanosauria.
Species: A. magnificus
(type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Uncertain but holotype roughly estimated to be
about 25 meters long.
Known locations: Brazil - Presidente Prudente
Formation.
Time period: Campanian/Maastrichtian of the
Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Few vertebrae.
Unfortunately at the time of the genus description the only fossils of Austroposeidon that we have are some vertebrae. However, comparison to other similar dinosaurs has led to realistic size estimates for this dinosaur of about twenty-five metres in length. Although not the biggest dinosaur, this does make Austroposeidon at the time of its 2016 description, the biggest dinosaur ever known to live in what is now Brazil.
Further reading
- A New Giant Titanosauria (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the
Late Cretaceous Bauru Group, Brazil. - PLoS ONE
11(10):e0163373:1-25. - K. L. N. Bandeira, F.
Medeiros Simbras, E. Batista Machado, D. Almeida Campos, G.
R. Oliveira & A. W. A. Kellner - 2016.