Line #110 UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeSauropods


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3	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/diplodocus_0jpgfe6af10a_68d9_4abf_9f66_2f578d0e98c6large.jpg]][[caption-width-right:350:One of the [[{{Irony}} tiniest]] dinosaurs known.]]
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5	Sauropods include about three hundred kinds described so far. Other than the famous PowerTrio ''Apato/Brachio/Diplodocus'' and the several contenders for "the biggest dinosaur" title, the most common sauropods in documentary-media have been ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Camarasaurus]]'' (mid-sized, short-necked, quite like a middle between an apatosaur and a brachiosaur), ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Cetiosaurus]]'' (a primitive generic-looking sauropod of Europe, the first described by science), ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Barosaurus]]'' (similar to ''Diplodocus'' but with a longer neck), ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Mamenchisaurus]]'' (found in Asia and with an even longer neck than the former), ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Saltasaurus]]'' (South-American, Cretaceous, and with an unusually armored body). ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Shunosaurus]]'' and ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Amargasaurus]]'' are noted as well for their body-defenses (club-tail and neck-spines, respectively). Other notable sauropods in non-fiction media have been: ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Titanosaurus]]'' (the prototype of the Titanosaurians), ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Dicraeosaurus]]'' (similar to ''Diplodocus'' but with a rather short neck), ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Vulcanodon]]'' (very small and basal, one of the first ever appeared sauropods), ''Hypselosaurus'' (the alleged owner of "the biggest non-bird dino eggs" ever found), and in the oldest sources, the fragmentary ''Atlantosaurus'' (the first sauropod described in the "Bone Wars"). The animal of the image is ''Diplodocus''.
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11	[[folder:Titanosaurs]]
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15	'''The Last Sauropods'''
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17	* “Titanosaur” is an often-heard name in documentaries, books and sometimes in pop-media: what is it exactly a titanosaur? Well, it has actually ''two'' meanings. The stricter one indicates a precise genus of Late Cretaceous dinosaur, ''Titanosaurus'', the first sauropod discovered in India (and Asia), in year 1877. But it’s actually one of the most fragmentary sauropods, known only from few vertebrae and some other material, and was treated as one of the three most classic dinosaurian “wastebins” together with ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Megalosaurus]]'' and ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursOrnithischianDinosaurs Iguanodon]]'': to the point that ''Titanosaurus''es cropped up everywhere in the world - now they are regarded either dubious, or reclassified in new genera. The second meaning indicates the sauropod subgroup including the eponymous genus above: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Titanosaurs]]. First appeared in the Late Jurassic with ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australodocus Australodocus]]'' -- initially believed a diplodocid, hence its name "southern (diplo)docus" -- they became a very abundant and widespread dinosaur group in the Cretaceous, especially in the Southern Continents (where competition from the more evolved Ornithischians was lower), and in the Late Cretaceous they managed to replace all the other sauropods. Here we list only some noticeable titanosaurian examples.
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21	'''Titans and Dwarfs:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctosaurus Antarctosaurus]]'' & ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magyarosaurus Magyarosaurus]]''
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23	* Not all titanosaurs were true titans: among colossi such as ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Argentinosaurus]]'', ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Puertasaurus]]'', ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Futalognkosaurus]]'', ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Paralititan]]'', ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Patagotitan]]'', ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursOrnithischianDinosaurs Notocolossus]]'', ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Dreadnoughtus]]'', or ''Antarctosaurus'', there was also an animal like ''Magyarosaurus'', a [[OxymoronicBeing dwarf sauropod]] ''only 6 m long'', which reduced its size to survive in small European islands. Once often put in the "Titanosaurus wastebin", even though its name means "lizard of Hungary" it was found in the near Romania. About ''Antarctosaurus'', this has been one of the first dinosaurs found in South America (since the start of the XX century: hence its generic name “Southern Lizard”), but is very poorly-known. Some alleged antarctosaur remains have been described in Africa and even India other than South America (the Indian one is now called ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainosaurus Jainosaurus]]''); some of these are nearly as big as those of ''Argentinosaurus'' found several decades later, as well as the equally-fragmentary remains of another early-discovered South-American kind, ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argyrosaurus Argyrosaurus]]''. Interestingly, the latter's name has the same meaning of ''Argentinosaurus'', "lizard from Argentina", but the two titanosaurs are distinct animals. Both prefixes mean "silver" (Argentina means "the silver land"), but ''Argentino-'' is Latin word, ''Argyro-'' is Greek. Most titanosaurs, however, were far from the two extremes. The armoured ''Saltasaurus'' and the [[TheUnpronounceable almost unutterable]] ''Opisthocoelicaudia'', for example, were 12 m long-- still half the size of an average apatosaur.
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27	'''The Headless (in fossils):''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opisthocoelicaudia Opisthocoelicaudia]]''
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29	* "Titanosaurus", ''Antarctosaurus'', ''Argentinosaurus'', ''Argyrosaurus'' and so on are not the only fragmentary titanosaurian kinds: ironically, despite the high number of described species, titanosaur remains are almost always very scant. Just as an example, ''Opisthocoelicaudia'' from Late Cretaceous Mongolia is considered one of the most complete together with ''Saltasaurus''; its body, limbs and tail are well-preserved … but its head and neck are unknown. The skeleton of ''Opisthocoelicaudia'' do not shows any sign of preserved body armor, and its tail is strangely curved upwards. It was originally classified as a ''Camarasaurus'' relative, as well as the less-known ''Asiatosaurus'' from Eastern [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Asia]] (maybe the first sauropod found in China, hence its generic name). But other titanosaurians, as said above, do show armor; these ones were the most evolved, from Late Cretaceous, usually small-sized for sauropod standards. To compensate, the most primitive ones were often enormous-sized to defend themselves against predators like the carcharodontosaurids. Among small armored Late Cretaceous titanosaurian, other than ''Saltasaurus'' we can mention ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laplatasaurus Laplatasaurus]]'' "La Plata lizard". Its name is reference to the famous Argentinian river near which it was found: "Rio de la Plata" means ''river of the silver'' in Spanish. Like ''Antarctosaurus'', it too has to some degree been treated as a "wastebasket" (some alleged "Laplatasaurus" were once described in Africa).
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33	'''Mysterious Eggs:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypselosaurus Hypselosaurus]]''
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35	* Most titanosaurian remains are from South America, especially Argentina. Most South American dinosaurs have been discovered in Argentina, and not in Brazil as one might expect, given the largest area of the latter. A rather enigmatic Argentinian sauropod is ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chubutisaurus Chubutisaurus]]''; found in the 1980s together with the meat-eating ''Carnotaurus'', it was initially believed a late-surviving brachiosaurid, and some think it may be an intermediate form between brachiosaurids & titanosaurs rather than a proper titanosaur. Other examples of Argentinian (confirmed or putative) titanosaurs include ''Aeolosaurus'', ''Andesaurus'' ("Andean lizard"), ''Campylodoniscus'', ''Epachthosaurus'', ''Ligabuesaurus'', ''Neuquensaurus'', ''Pellegrinisaurus'', ''Rinconsaurus'', ''Rocasaurus''. However, titanosaurians have been found in most parts of the world. Both ''Hypselosaurus'' and ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampelosaurus Ampelosaurus]]'' come from France; the latter’s status as “the most complete French sauropod” has made it a sort of national celebrity since its find in the late 1990s. ''Hypselosaurus priscus'' (known since the early 1900) is far more fragmentary, but is famous in popular dino-books because is classically thought the source of some large fossil eggs found in the XIX century; they are reputed the biggest dinosaurian eggs ever found, and yet they’re ''only one foot long'' - not exactly like those man-sized objects seen in cartoons. Technically, they weren’t the biggest dinosaur eggs: the famous recently-extinct “[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Elephant Bird]]” from Madagascar laid the biggest known land-based eggs in the whole animal kingdom: up to 2 ft long. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aepisaurus Aepisaurus]]'', also found in Cretaceous France like the above, is known only from a humerus, and it's uncertain if it was a titanosaur or not.
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39	'''The Ultimate Giraffe:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isisaurus Isisaurus]]''
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41	* Among titanosaurs which fell in the ''Titanosaurus''-Wastebasket, one of the most astonishing is ''Isisaurus'' from India. With its thick neck, short tail and strongly sloping backbone, it was the most giraffe-like sauropod known to date, even more than the well-known brachiosaurids. Just as strange were its forelimbs, with extremely reduced "feet". The very fragmentary ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegyptosaurus Aegyptosaurus]]'' and the more complete ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malawisaurus Malawisaurus]]'' (one of the few titanosaurs with fossil skull-material known) have received their name from the African countries they were found, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Egypt and Malawi]] respectively; the aegyptosaur lived in Cretaceous Northern Africa near another famous Egyptian guy, ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Spinosaurus aegyptiacus]]''; ''Malawisaurus'' was once confused with non-titanosaur sauropods, like ''Tornieria'' (a diplodocoid). Other African countries which have left important dinosaur remains are: Tanzania with the famous Tendaguru site full of Late Jurassic specimens - when the Tendaguru fossils were found, Tanzania was still a German colony: that explains why the famous "Brachiosaurus" (''Giraffatitan'') discovered here ended in the Berlin Museum. Other famed Tendaguru dinosaurs are the stegosaur ''Kentrosaurus'', the small theropod ''Elaphrosaurus'', and the diplodocoid sauropod ''Dicraeosaurus''. Then there's South Africa, home for several Early Jurassic dinosaurs: classic examples are the prosauropod ''Massospondylus'' and the basal ornithischians ''Heterodontosaurus'' & ''Lesothosaurus'', though technically the latest one was found in a tiny State surrounded by the South African Republic: the Lesotho indeed. Zimbabwe has left some dinosaurs as well (''Vulcanodon'', "Syntarsus"). Finally, several Saharan countries other than Egypt, like Morocco and especially Niger. Niger was home for the sailbacked ornithopod ''Ouranosaurus'' and several other Cretaceous animals: among them a strange sauropod, aptly called ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Niger]]saurus'' (see further).
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45	'''Emigrating in the USA:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alamosaurus Alamosaurus]]''
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47	* And what about North America? Did any titanosaur live here, along with ''T. rexes'' and ''Triceratops''? Yes, it did, but was the only one known: ''Alamosaurus'', possibly an isolated migrant originally from South America. Even though it's known only from (again…) not-complete remains, its status of “the only one who met ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' in RealLife!” (and its “token sauropod” appearance as well, without any known armor) has made it the perfect HandWave for those artists/writers who have fun to portray ''Apatosaurus/Brontosaurus''/''Diplodocus''/''Brachiosaurus/Giraffatitan'' [[AnachronismStew living side-by-side]] with ''Tyrannosaurus''. Considering [[SarcasmMode the extreme rarity]] of this eventuality, this would make ''Alamosaurus'', not "Brontosaurus"/''Diplodocus''/"Brachiosaurus", [[UnfortunateImplications the real Great-Stock sauropod...]]. Just as an example, the sauropod skeleton seen next to the ''Tyrannosaurus'' one at the end of the first Franchise/JurassicPark film has been labeled "Alamosaurus", but is more probably an ''Apatosaurus''. ''Alamosaurus'' was found only in southwestern North America, while ''T. rex'' and ''Triceratops'' lived mostly farther north. There was some overlap between the two ecosystems, but only in a narrow area of Utah and Wyoming: thus, a battle between a ''T. rex'' and an ''Alamosaurus'' must have been a rare event. Extremely recent discoveries suggest that ''Alamosaurus'' may have been one of the largest sauropods, with fragmentary remains suggesting at animals equal or greater in size than ''Argentinosaurus''.
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51	'''Titanosaurs or Diplodocids?:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemegtosaurus Nemegtosaurus]]'' & ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaesitosaurus Quaesitosaurus]]''
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53	* Two alleged diplodocoids were found in Late Cretaceous Mongolia in the 1970s: ''Nemegtosaurus'' and ''Quaesitosaurus'', both known from one single Diplodocus-like skull. Since Late Cretaceous sauropods were titanosaurs, the question was: were they late-surviving diplodocoids, or just ''Diplodocus''-like titanosaurs? In 2000, the discovery in Madagascar of ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapetosaurus Rapetosaurus]]'', a very complete Late Cretaceous titanosaur with a clearly ''Diplodocus''-shaped head, reveals the second option being the more likely.
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59	[[folder:Diplodocoids]]
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63	'''Porcupine Dinosaur:'''
64	''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajadasaurus Bajadasaurus]]''
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66	* Described in 2019 at the end of TheNewTens from incomplete remains (but already found in 2010, at the start of them), the dicraeosaurid sauropod ''Bajadasaurus pronuspinax'' ("forward-spined Bajada's lizard": Bajada is the Patagonian locality where it's been found) shows huge neural double-spines on its neck. They pointed forwards, not backwards like ''Amargasaurus''. Found in Early Cretaceous Argentina like the latter and relatively small as well, its look was however even more striking than those of the amargasaur itself (found in year 1990), with even longer neck-spines. This animal might gain more attention in the future thanks to this "horned hairdo", which could have been for defence against giant predatory dinosaurs of the time. Like ''Amargasaurus'' we don't know however for sure if there was a "double sail" made of skin connecting the spines, or defensive horny sheaths, but ''Bajadasaurus'' describer has hypothesized the second thing.
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70	'''Sauropod?:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachytrachelopan Brachytrachelopan]]''
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72	* Still another dicraeosaurid, ''Brachytrachelopan'' (lit. "short neck") from Late Jurassic South-America was even weirder than the spiky ''Amargasaurus'' and ''Bajadasaurus''. Found in the 2000s, with its extremely [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin shortened neck]] it didn't seem even a sauropod! Indeed, South America has gifted some other odd sauropods in recent years: the titanosaurian ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonitasaura Bonitasaura]]'' ("beautiful lizard" in Spanish) had uniquely a horny beak put ''behind'' the frontal teeth. While ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agustinia Agustinia]]'' (originally called "Augustia") was thought to have had long, raised bony plates like a stegosaur, but these now appear to be misinterpreted normal bones. And in North America, ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyslocosaurus Dyslocosaurus]]'' ("lizard in the wrong place") was believed to have had ''five'' claws on each rear-foot, unlike the typical three-clawed feet of every other sauropod. Returning to ''Brachytrachelopan'', it's worth noting that the shortness of its neck was obtained not by diminishing the number of vertebrae, but extremely-shortening each of them -- the exact contrary than the modern giraffe, that has the typical seven neck-vertebrae of every mammal but very elongated.
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76	'''Saharian Longneck:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebbachisaurus Rebbachisaurus]]''
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78	* Other diplodocoids were still more primitive than the above: ''Rebbachisaurus'' ("Rebbachi lizard") from Cretaceous Sahara maybe still hadn’t a whip-like tail. This sauropod was found in several African countries, but its remains are sparse; once, it was even believed a brachiosaurid and not a diplodocoid. Some alleged ''Rebbachisaurus''es were described in South America, but now are classified in other genera within the Rebbachisaurids (ex. ''Limaysaurus''). Another rebbachisaurid, ''Nopscaspondylus'', was described in Argentina in 2007: it means "Nopsca's vertebra" from the European palaeontologist Franz Von Nopsca who first found its remains at the start of the XX century, and was one of the last-surviving diplodocoids, from Middle Cretaceous.
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82	'''Hundreds of Teeth:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigersaurus Nigersaurus]]''
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84	* The family of the Rebbachisaurids also contains ''Nigersaurus'' from [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Niger]], whose well-preserved skull shows strange grinding teeth. It also had the most teeth of any known saurischian: at any one time, there could be over ''five hundred'' teeth in its mouth - among dinosaurs only the ornithischian hadrosaurs had even more teeth in their mouths. In 2018 it was discovered that the legendary ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Amphicoelias fragillimus]]'', known only from a single immense vertebra and long believed to be a gigantic diplodocid, was actually a member of the rebbachisaurid group, and now has been renamed ''Maraapunisaurus''. Maybe the most basal rebbachisaurid is ''Histriasaurus'' from Croatia (Histria is indeed in Croatia, former Yugoslavia). Some sauropods are controversial if they were diplodocoids, or not: ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplocanthosaurus Haplocanthosaurus]]'' ("single-spine lizard") could be a more basal sauropod. Found as early as the 1900s, lived alongside the “stock sauropod trio” "Apato"-"Diplo"-''Brachiosaurus'' in Late Jurassic North America, but is rarer and extremely less-portrayed. Also living along the latter were ''Dystrophaeus'' (described by Edward Cope) and the dicraeosaurid ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suuwassea Suuwassea]]'' ("ancient thunder"). ''"Eobrontosaurus"'' ("dawn thunder lizard") was described by Bob Bakker in 1998 as a very Apatosaurus-like new diplodocid genus, but it was in the 2015 merged again in the officially resurrected "''Brontosaurus''". While ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetiosauriscus Cetiosauriscus]]'' (Middle Jurassic Europe) despite its name meaning "similar to ''Cetiosaurus''" was long not believed a basal sauropod like the latter but a true diplodocoid, even though recently it has been reclassified outside Diplodocoidea in a more primitive position within the sauropod evolution.
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88	'''Titan or Atlas?:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantosaurus Atlantosaurus]]''
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90	* This dinosaur was the first sauropod described during the XIX century Bone Wars, see [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeDinosaurs History of Dinosaur Discoveries]]. Many alleged ''Atlantosaurus'' remains have then revealed to belong to ''Apatosaurus''/''Brontosaurus'', while the original one (a hard-to-classify diplodocoid) is very scanty. It was called ''Atlantosaurus'' ("Atlas Lizard": Atlas was the gigantic Greek god who kept the Sky with his arms, and origin of the name of the Geographical Atlas) by O. Marsh, after having named it "Titanosaurus" little time before; his archrival E. Cope noted that the name ''Titanosaurus'' was officially used few months before for the Indian sauropod today prototype of the Titanosaurians -- hence the name-change. In old textbooks ''Atlantosaurus'' was often hugely oversized, ex. cited as "the biggest dinosaur ever": one of the earliest cases of exaggerations in non-scientific media. The similar-named ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlasaurus Atlasaurus]]'' was another kind of sauropod, but found in Morocco in 1999 and not a diplodocoid but a primitive member of the sauropodian clade like ''Cetiosaurus'', with rather complete remains. It owes its name, other than from its sauropodian size (15 m, but smaller than the classic Stock Sauropods) from the fact that [[Myth/GreekMythology Atlas]] was said living just in Morocco, where the Atlas Mountains are located; the Atlantic Ocean is so-called because Morocco has the vastest portion of its seashores just in this ocean (the remaining ones are in the Mediterranean Sea).
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96	[[folder:Macronarians]]
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100	'''Starry Teeth:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrodon Astrodon]]''
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102	* While diplodocoids are abundant, brachiosaurids are much rarer. Most described species are fragmentary, and with their appearance unknown. We can mention, because of their historical relevance, ''Astrodon'' and ''Pelorosaurus''. ''Astrodon'' ("starry tooth") is the first sauropod found in North America (even before the Bone Wars), but is known mainly from teeth; other incomplete remains found within the "wars" were once referred as "Pleurocoelus" ("hollow side"). ''Astrodon'' is traditionally considered a “small” sauropod about 10 m long, and lived in Early Cretaceous along ''Deinonychus'' and the much larger ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Sauroposeidon]]''. Some analyses, however, suggest ''Astrodon'' is not a brachiosaurid, but is closer to titanosaurs. Curiously, the synonym "Pleurocoelus" used to be described as a much bigger brachiosaurid than ''Astrodon''.
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106	'''The 2nd-described Sauropod:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelorosaurus Pelorosaurus]]''
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108	* On the other hand, the English ''Pelorosaurus'' was probably as big as ''Brachiosaurus'', but like ''Astrodon'' (and most non-stock brachiosaurids), lived in Early Cretaceous as well, and is very scanty. Some have depicted ''Pelorosaurus'' with an armored back like that of the titanosaur ''Saltasaurus'', but it's dubious if it really had it. ''Pelorosaurus'' was the second (1850) sauropod described after ''Cetiosaurus'', and lived together with ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursOrnithischianDinosaurs Iguanodon]]'', ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursOrnithischianDinosaurs Hypsilophodon]]'', and ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Baryonyx]]''. Since sauropods were virtually unknown at the time the pelorosaur's find strongly astonished its describer, to the point he gave it its name meaning [[PrehistoricMonster monster lizard]]. Later, ''Pelorosaurus'' was treated as a Waste-Basket taxon for undetermined European sauropods: among these former “pelorosaurs” (all dubious) we can mention "Dinodocus" from Early Cretaceous (not a Diplodocus relative as it seems), and "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigantosaurus Gigantosaurus]]" (not ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Giganotosaurus]]''), which lived in Late Jurassic earlier than the real ''Pelorosaurus''.
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112	'''Brachiosaur Relative?:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bothriospondylus Bothriospondylus]]''
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114	* From the same period of "Gigantosaurus" comes another little-known European sauropod, ''Bothriospondylus'', often considered a brachiosaurid in the past: even though is known since the early 1900, it has not fallen in the "pelorosaur wastebin" -- but to compensate, it has been treated as a small "wastebin" on its own, assigning to it some fragmentary sauropod remains from Madagascar, now known as ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapparentosaurus Lapparentosaurus]]''. Also known since the late 1800 but equally not-fallen in the pelorosaurian wastebin are ''Chondrosteosaurus'' ("cartilage-bone lizard") and ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrurosaurus Macrurosaurus]]'' ("big tailed lizard"), both from England; the latter was an Early-Cretaceous relative of titanosaurs known only from 40 tail vertebrae. In Portugal, a formerly-believed species of ''Brachiosaurus'' is now labeled ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lusotitan Lusotitan]]'' ("Portuguese titan"). Once, "Dystylosaurus" was also considered a brachiosaurid, but today is classified within the diplodocid genus ''Supersaurus''.
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118	'''Jurassic or Cretaceous?:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euhelopus Euhelopus]]''
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120	* Together, Brachiosaurids, Camarasaurids, Titanosaurians, and others make the Macronarians, one of the two great sauropod subgroups together with Diplodocoids. One example of macronarian which do not pertain to the aforementioned subgroups is ''Euhelopus zdanskyi''. The first-found non-fragmentary sauropod in China (and one of the very first found Chinese dinosaurs, in the 1920s), it had long neck and short tail which made it looking like a miniaturized ''Mamenchisaurus''. Indeed, ''Euhelopus'' ("good foot for swamps", originally called "Helopus", "foot for swamps") was once believed related with the mamenchisaur; but now is considered a more evolved sauropod, closely related with titanosaurians. ''Euhelopus'' is the most "classic" among Asian Early Cretaceous sauropods (other less-known examples are ''Chiayusaurus'' and ''Mongolosaurus''), even though some old sources wrongly claim it was Late Jurassic, thus possibly living near ''Mamenchisaurus''. Many other Chinese sauropods, such as ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tienshanosaurus Tienshanosaurus]]'' and ''Klamelisaurus'' from Xinjiang, "Damalasaurus" from Tibet, ''Abrosaurus'', ''Protognathosaurus'', ''Sanpasaurus'' & ''Zigongosaurus'' from Szechwan, and "Oshanosaurus" from Yunnan, really hailed from Jurassic. On the other hand, the Euhelopus-relative ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phuwiangosaurus Phuwiangosaurus]]'' was actually Early-Cretaceous, but was found in Thailand instead of in China. The euhelopus could have been the model for ''Series/PrehistoricPark''’s “titanosaurs” seen in the early Cretaceous episode about "Dino-birds".
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124	'''Little Giant:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europasaurus Europasaurus]]''
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126	* Another sauropod, the short-named ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erketu Erketu]]'' from Late Cretaceous Mongolia, despite its comparatively small size is believed to have had the longest neck respect-to-the body of any sauropod - the polar opposite of the diplodocoid ''Brachytrachelopan'', which has the shortest neck for any known sauropod. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathetosaurus Cathetosaurus]]'' from Late Jurassic USA was originally described by James Jensen (the ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Supersaurus]]'' discoverer) in the '80s as the most apt sauropod to rear up on its hindlegs, but has since then often classified as a simple species of the well-known ''Camarasaurus''. South-African Early Cretaceous ''Algoasaurus'', found by Robert Broom in early 1900, was also once believed a camarasaurid, but is known only from a leg-bone. ''Lourinhasaurus'' from Portugal, on the other hand, seems a true camarasaurid. "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_informally_named_dinosaurs Nurosaurus]]", a yet-undescribed sauropod found in 1991 in Inner Mongolia (province of China), has revealed to be one of the biggest Asian sauropods with its 25-meters-long body, rivalling the famous ''Mamenchisaurus''. Among the other hard-to-classify macronarians, there is also the curious case of ''Europasaurus''. Found in [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Europe]], it lived in the Late Jurassic islets in which is today Germany; in spite of being one of the smallest (6 m) sauropods ever, it should have appeared a true giant to its two neighbors ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Compsognathus]]'' and ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Archaeopteryx]]''. ''Europasaurus'' is not the only case of insular dwarfism among sauropods however: another case is the already-mentioned titanosaur ''Magyarosaurus'' from Romania, which was about the same size.
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130	[[/folder]]
131
132	[[folder:Basal Sauropods]]
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135
136	'''Club-Tailed Sauropod:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omeisaurus Omeisaurus]]''
137
138	* ''Shunosaurus'' lived alongside members of a mostly Asian sauropod subgroup, the Mamenchisaurids, which included other kinds other than the namesake ''Mamenchisaurus'', the best-known of them has been ''Omeisaurus''. This one ("Omei lizard") lived in the Late Jurassic like the mamenchisaur, and like the latter was described by the father-of-Chinese-paleontology Yang Chung Chien in the 1940s. Smaller than ''Mamenchisaurus'' (20 m long) but with a very long slim neck and comparatively short tail, ''Omeisaurus'' looked like a smaller version of it, but is known to have had a tail-club very similar to that of ''Shunosaurus'' (but without the "thagomizer"). Several confirmed species are known from ''Omeisaurus'' (an unusual thing among dinosaurs as a whole) and yet this dinosaur has not been a common sight in books. Other mamenchisaurids were more generic-looking, for example the medium-sized ''Tienshanosaurus'' (also described by Young Chung Chien from good remains including even some egg fragments), while the equally middle-sized ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datousaurus Datousaurus]]'' and the very small ''Bellusaurus'' were considered mamenchisaurids but probably weren't. All these animals were found in China, but one mamenchisaurid appears to be present in the African Tendaguru formation.
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141
142	'''Archaic Argentinian:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patagosaurus Patagosaurus]]''
143
144	* Outside Asia, one of the most relevant primitive sauropod has been ''Patagosaurus'' from [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Patagonia]] and, more recently discovered, ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jobaria Jobaria]]'' from North Africa. Both were Middle Jurassic, even though the latter was believed Cretaceous, thus a [[ScienceMarchesOn late-surviving form]]. ''Patagosaurus'' is still the most well-known sauropod from Jurassic South America; known from eight adult individuals and one juvenile, was very similar to ''Cetiosaurus'' in shape and size. Indeed, most generic-looking basal sauropods used to be put in the "Cetiosaurid" family, but this was actually an artificial assemblage. Others South-American Jurassic sauropods include ''Amygdalodon'' ("almond-tooth") and ''Volkheimeria'' (named after a German scientist).
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147
148	'''Spine-Bearer:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinophorosaurus Spinophorosaurus]]''
149
150	* Similar to ''Shunosaurus'' but not related, ''Spinophorosaurus'' (meaningfully "spike-bearing lizard") discovered in 2009 in Middle Jurassic Africa had also a similar armored tail, with a thagomizer but not a club. It was probably even more primitive than ''Shunosaurus'', and like the latter, is one of the best scientifically-known early sauropods today. Interestingly, its first two skeletons were digitally replicated after being brought in Europe, making ''Spinophorosaurus'' the first sauropod to have its skeleton 3D-printed.
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153
154	'''Primitive Colossus:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turiasaurus Turiasaurus]]''
155
156	* But the most spectacular basal sauropod is the Spanish ''Turiasaurus'' described in 2006 from the boundary between Jurassic and Cretaceous (this ''was'' a late-survivor); 30 m long and massively-built, it's the biggest known basal sauropod, with a similar size of an ''Argentinosaurus'' and other colossal titanosaurians! It has recently become the prototype of its own lineage of basal sauropods, the Turiasaurians, which include other smaller sauropod, namely the Spanish ''Losillasaurus'', the Portuguese ''Zby'', and others. ''Aragosaurus'' ("Aragon lizard"), also from Spain, is of uncertain classification: it was originally considered a camarasaurid, but could be another turiasaurian as well.
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159
160	'''Long-necked Aussies:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhoetosaurus Rhoetosaurus]]'' & ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrosaurus Austrosaurus]]''
161
162	* Sauropods have been found almost everywhere, LandDownUnder as well (but still not in Antarctica, unlike "prosauropods"). But are little-known there. ''Austrosaurus'' and ''Rhoetosaurus'' are two rarities in books, less-frequent than smaller Australian dinosaurs like ''Leaellynasaura'', ''Minmi'', ''Muttaburrasaurus'', or even the [[ScienceMarchesOn alleged]] “dwarf allosaur”; this can be justified though, given their scarce remains. ''Rhoetosaurus'' (its name comes from a [[Myth/GreekMythology Greek giant]]) still remains one of the few known Australian dinosaurs from the Jurassic (another is the enigmatic theropod ''Ozraptor'': most known aussie dinos were Early Cretaceous). It is a basal sauropod maybe related with ''Cetiosaurus'', or maybe even more primitive. On the other hand, ''Austrosaurus'' ("southern lizard") was a typical Early Cretaceous dinosaur; Late Cretaceous dinosaurs are still unknown from Australia. It is more incomplete but more peculiar than ''Rhoetosaurus'', having unusually-long forelimbs; once, ''Austrosaurus'' was believed a primitive late-surviving non-diplodocoid / non-macronarian sauropod; today is classified as a titanosaur relative. Very recent additions in the Australian sauropod list are ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australotitan Australotitan]]'', ''Diamantinasaurus'', ''Savannasaurus'', and ''Wintonotitan''. The first one ("southern titan"), described only in 2021, was a titanosaur and is now the biggest known Australian dinosaur, while ''Savannasaurus'' is the most complete Australian sauropod.
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165
166	'''The Indian Precursor:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barapasaurus Barapasaurus]]''
167
168	* All the sauropods already listed in this page were "Eusauropods" ("real sauropods"). Yet, there were even more basal sauropods other than these: ''Vulcanodon'' and ''Barapasaurus'' are the two classical examples. Both from Early Jurassic, they still had “prosauropod” traits in their skeletons, but their external shape was already sauropodian, with pillar-like limbs and elephant-like feet. ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Vulcanodon]]'' was very small for a sauropod -- 6 m long, less than a plateosaur but still much bigger than most other sauropods predecessors. On the other hand, ''Barapasaurus'' ("big-legged lizard", not to be confounded with ''Barosaurus'') was the first known sauropod to have reached the classic huge sauropodian size: 18 m long, like ''Camarasaurus'' or ''Cetiosaurus''. It’s also one of the few dinosaurs from India, while the vulcanodont was Southern African and lived alongside the well-known prosauropod ''Massospondylus''.
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171
172	'''The First Steps'''
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174	* True sauropods started their evolution in Early Jurassic. Before, only sauropod predecessors like ''Plateosaurus'' or ''Thecodontosaurus'' existed. Examples of other Early Jurassic sauropods (all small-sized like ''Vulcanodon'') include ''Ohmdenosaurus'' from Germany, ''Tazoudasaurus'' from Morocco, ''Kunmingosaurus'' and ''Zizhongosaurus'' from China, and ''Kotasaurus'' from India. Among them there were some of the smallest true sauropods known, some no more than 4 m long, less than many "prosauropods". ''Isanosaurus'' from Thailand was quoted as a Late Triassic animal and described as the "most ancient true sauropod" when it was found in 2000, but could be Late Jurassic instead and is very fragmentary.
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178	[[/folder]]
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Context UsefulNotes / PrehistoricLifeSauropods