Savannasaurus
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Savannasaurus Temporal range: 93.9 Ma Cenomanian - Turonian (Late Cretaceous) |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Neosauropoda |
| Clade: | †Macronaria |
| Clade: | †Titanosauria |
| Genus: |
†Savannasaurus Poropat et al., 2016 |
| Species: | †S. elliottorum |
| Binomial name | |
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Savannasaurus elliottorum Poropat et al., 2016 |
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Savannasaurus is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Queensland, Australia, containing one species, Savannasaurus elliottorum, named in 2016 by Poropat et al. The only known specimen was originally nicknamed "Wade". The holotype is held on display at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs museum.
Savannasaurus was a medium-sized titanosaur about 15 metres (49 ft) in length. The sacrum and the fused ischium-pubis complex are both over one metre in width at their narrowest points, making Savannasaurus an unusually wide-bodied titanosaur. In addition to this, the describers identified several other distinguishing characteristics: the first few caudal vertebrae have shallow pits, or fossae, in their sides, a feature that was previously only known among brachiosaurids; the edges of the sternal plates are straight, not kidney-shaped like other titanosaurs; the end of the fourth metacarpal is hourglass-shaped; there is a ridge on the side of the pubis extending forward and downward from the obturator foramen; and the astragalus is taller than it is wide or long.
As with other titanosauriforms, the internal texture of the vertebrae is pneumatized by many small holes (camellate), and the dorsal ribs also bear pneumatic cavities. The dorsal vertebrae have ridges on the sides of their bottom faces as in Diamantinasaurus and Opisthocoelicaudia, but Savannasaurus lacks the keel on the bottom of the dorsal vertebrae as in these species; the dorsal neural spines are also not split into two, unlike Opisthocoelicaudia. The known cervical vertebrae and dorsal vertebrae are opisthocoelous, while all of the caudal vertebrae are amphicoelous unlike most other titanosaurs.
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