| Atlasaurus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Skeleton mounted in Rabat, Morocco | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | † Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | † Sauropoda |
| Genus: | † Atlasaurus Monbaron, Russell, & Taquet, 1999 |
| Species: | †A. imelakei |
| Binomial name | |
| †Atlasaurus imelakei Monbaron, Russell & Taquet, 1999 | |
Atlasaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaurs from Middle Jurassic (Bathonian to Callovian stages) beds in North Africa. [1]
The Atlasaurus holotype was discovered in 1981 and was described by Monbaron, Russell & Taquet in 1999. It was named after the location of discovery in the High Atlas range of the Atlas Mountains of Morocco (where the Titan Atlas was said to hold up the heavens), and for the animal's size (about 15 m (49 ft) long). It is known from a nearly complete skeleton with a skull found at Wawmda, in the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian-Callovian) Guettioua Formation in Morocco's Azilal Province. The type species is Atlasaurus imelakei, the specific name coming from Arabic عملاق ("eimlaq" or "imelake"), meaning "giant". [1]
A second specimen of A. imelakei, a near-complete tail, was also discovered in Morocco and was pieced back together in Utah after 300 hours of preparation. It was eventually sent to Mexico and was put on display in the lobby of the BBVA Bancomer tower in Mexico City until it was auctioned off to an anonymous businessman in January 2018 to pay for the rebuilding of schools destroyed during the 2017 Puebla earthquake. [2]
Atlasaurus differs from Brachiosaurus relative to the estimated length of the dorsal vertebral column (assuming 12 vertebrae, 3.04 m (10.0 ft)), in having a proportionately larger skull, a shorter neck (with at least 13 cervical vertebrae, shorter and more uniform in length than Brachiosaurus), a longer tail and more elongated limbs (humerus to femur ratio: 0.99; ulna to tibia ratio: 1.15). The teeth are spoon-shaped and have denticles. The lower jaw of Atlasaurus is about 69 centimetres (27 in) long, the neck was about 3.86 metres (12.7 ft) long, the humerus 1.95 metres (6 ft 5 in) long, and the femur about 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) long. It has been estimated at 15 metres (49 ft) in length, and 22.5 tonnes (22.1 long tons; 24.8 short tons) in weight. [1]
It was classified as a relatively primitive sauropod identified as a "cetiosaur" when first discovered, although upon further study, Atlasaurus appears to be closer to Brachiosaurus than to any other known sauropod based on detailed similarities between the vertebral column and limbs. [1] However, more recent analyses have considered it to be a putative member of the Turiasauria. [3] The most recent analysis of turiasaurs recovers Atlasaurus as a brachiosaurid. [4]
The High Atlas, also called the Grand Atlas, is a mountain range in central Morocco, North Africa, the highest part of the Atlas Mountains.
Jobaria is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Niger during the middle Jurassic Period, between 164 and 161 million years ago. Jobaria is currently the only known valid sauropod from the Tiouraren, where it was discovered in 1997.
The Brachiosauridae are a family or clade of herbivorous, quadrupedal sauropod dinosaurs. Brachiosaurids had long necks that enabled them to access the leaves of tall trees that other sauropods would have been unable to reach. In addition, they possessed thick spoon-shaped teeth which helped them to consume tough plants more efficiently than other sauropods. They have also been characterized by a few unique traits or synapomorphies; dorsal vertebrae with 'rod-like' transverse processes and an ischium with an abbreviated pubic peduncle.
Xiaosaurus, is a genus of small herbivorous dinosaur from the middle Jurassic, approximately 170.3 to 163.5 mya. Xiaosaurus lived in what is now the Sichuan Basin of China.
Cetiosaurus meaning 'whale lizard', from the Greek keteios/κήτειος meaning 'sea monster' and sauros/σαυρος meaning 'lizard', is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Period, living about 168 million years ago in what is now Britain and probably France.
Giraffatitan is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived during the late Jurassic Period in what is now Lindi Region, Tanzania. Only one species is known, G. brancai, named in honor of German paleontologist Wilhelm von Branca, who was a driving force behind the expedition that discovered it in the Tendaguru Formation. Giraffatitan brancai was originally described by German paleontologist Werner Janensch as a species of the North American sauropod Brachiosaurus from the Morrison Formation, as Brachiosaurus brancai. Recent research shows that the differences between the type species of Brachiosaurus and the Tendaguru material are so large that the African material should be placed in a separate genus.
Huayangosaurus is a genus of stegosaurian dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of China. The name derives from "Huayang" (華陽), an alternate name for Sichuan, and "saurus", meaning "lizard". It lived during the Bathonian to Callovian stages, around 165 million years ago, some 20 million years before its famous relative, Stegosaurus appeared in North America. At only approximately 4 metres (13 ft) long, it was also much smaller than its famous cousin. Found in the Lower Shaximiao Formation, Huayangosaurus shared the local Middle Jurassic landscape with the sauropods Shunosaurus, Datousaurus, Omeisaurus and Protognathosaurus, the ornithopod Xiaosaurus and the carnivorous Gasosaurus.
Tazoudasaurus is a genus of gravisaurian, probably a vulcanodontid sauropod dinosaurs hailing from the late Early Jurassic (Toarcian), that was recovered in the "Toundoute Continental Series" located in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco in North Africa. Along with Patagosaurus, Volkheimeria, Bagualia and Perijasaurus represents one of the few sauropods named from this stage on Gondwana, as well as the only one from Africa.
Tehuelchesaurus is a genus of dinosaur. It is named in honor of the Tehuelche people, native to the Argentinian province of Chubut, where it was first found.
Lapparentosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic. Its fossils were found in Madagascar. The type species is L. madagascariensis.
Lusotitan is a genus of herbivorous brachiosaurid sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of Portugal and possibly Spain.
Klamelisaurus is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Shishugou Formation of China. The type species is Klamelisaurus gobiensis, which was named by Zhao Xijin in 1993, based on a partial skeleton discovered in 1982 near the abandoned town of Jiangjunmiao. Zhao described Klamelisaurus as the only member of a new subfamily, Klamelisaurinae, among the now-defunct primitive sauropod order Bothrosauropodoidea. Since Zhao's description, Klamelisaurus received limited attention from researchers until Andrew Moore and colleagues redescribed it in 2020.
Europasaurus is a basal macronarian sauropod, a form of quadrupedal herbivorous dinosaur. It lived during the Late Jurassic of northern Germany, and has been identified as an example of insular dwarfism resulting from the isolation of a sauropod population on an island within the Lower Saxony basin.
Breviparopus is the name given to an ichnogenus of dinosaur, having been made by an unknown genus of sauropod. As an ichnogenus, the taxon is represented by a 90-metre (295 ft) long series of fossil tracks, or ichnites, found in the spring of 1979 in the Atlas Mountains of present-day Morocco. At the time, this area would have been part of the splitting Gondwana supercontinent. The animal that produced the Breviparopus tracks is rumored to be one of the largest dinosaurs, though its exact size has been the subject of much debate.
Brachiosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic, about 154 to 150 million years ago. It was first described by American paleontologist Elmer S. Riggs in 1903 from fossils found in the Colorado River valley in western Colorado, United States. Riggs named the dinosaur Brachiosaurus altithorax; the generic name is Greek for "arm lizard", in reference to its proportionately long arms, and the specific name means "deep chest". Brachiosaurus is estimated to have been between 18 and 22 meters long; body mass estimates of the subadult holotype specimen range from 28.3 to 46.9 metric tons. It had a disproportionately long neck, small skull, and large overall size, all of which are typical for sauropods. Atypically, Brachiosaurus had longer forelimbs than hindlimbs, which resulted in a steeply inclined trunk, and a proportionally shorter tail.
Spinophorosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Niger during the Middle Jurassic period. The first two specimens were excavated in the 2000s by German and Spanish teams under difficult conditions. The skeletons were brought to Europe and digitally replicated, making Spinophorosaurus the first sauropod to have its skeleton 3D printed, and were to be returned to Niger in the future. Together, the two specimens represented most of the skeleton of the genus, and one of the most completely known basal sauropods of its time and place. The first skeleton was made the holotype specimen of the new genus and species Spinophorosaurus nigerensis in 2009; the generic name refers to what was initially thought to be spiked osteoderms, and the specific name refers to where it was found. A juvenile sauropod from the same area was later assigned to the genus.
Xinjiangtitan is an extinct genus of mamenchisaurid sauropod that lived during the Middle Jurassic of what is now Xinjiang, northwestern China. Its type and only species is Xinjiangtitan shanshanesis, known from a single incomplete skeleton recovered from the Qiketai Formation. The holotype preserves one of the most complete vertebral columns of any sauropod found in Asia, and has the longest complete neck known for any animal.
Vouivria is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur, belonging to the Brachiosauridae, that lived in the area of present France during the Late Jurassic. The type species is Vouivria damparisensis.
Mierasaurus is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Utah, United States. The taxon was first described and named in 2017 by Rafael Royo-Torres and colleagues, from a mostly complete skeleton including a disarticulated partial skull and mandible, teeth, multiple vertebrae from along the length of the body, both scapulae, radius and ulna bones, a left manus, a complete pelvis, both femora and the entire left hindlimb. Additionally, they referred a lower jaw and femur from juvenile individuals, which were found nearby, to the genus. Collectively, Mierasaurus is among the most completely known North American sauropods. The genus name honours Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco, the first European scientist to enter what is now Utah. The type species for Mierasaurus is Mierasaurus bobyoungi, named after Robert Glen Young, a paleontologist who researched the Early Cretaceous of Utah.
Spicomellus is an extinct genus of early ankylosaurian dinosaur from the El Mers III Formation (Bathonian-Callovian) of Morocco. The genus contains a single species, S. afer, known from a single rib with fused osteoderms. Spicomellus represents the oldest named ankylosaur.
