Europasaurus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Europasaurus |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Reconstructed skeleton | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Europasaurus
|
| Species: |
holgeri
|
Europasaurus is a basal sauropod from the titanosaur clade, but very much smaller than usual.
This quadrupedal herbivorous dinosaur lived during the Upper Jurassic (middle Kimmeridgian, about 154 million years ago). It was found in northern Germany. It is an example of insular dwarfism. This means it probably came from an isolated sauropod population on an island in the Lower Saxony basin.
Small sauroopods with an adult body mass less than five tonnes are rare, and small sauropod bones usually come from juveniles. This species was a small adult, based on its bone histology. It was a dwarf species.
There are fossils from more than 11 individuals of 1.7 to 6.2 m in total body length. These size differences between the specimens are due to growth stages, from juveniles to fully grown individuals. The little dinosaurs must have lived on one of the large islands around the Lower Saxony basin.
A similar discovery was made in Transylvania at the start of the 20th century. a local aristocrat, Franz Nopcsa, found the fossils on his estate. He realised they might have lived on an island, because he knew that dwarf elephants had lived on islands in the Ice Age. Nopsca's estate was ruined by World War I, but his find was recorded as Magyarosaurus.
Images for kids
-
Preparation of the fossil bones
-
Block with partially prepared bones of specimen DFMMh/FV 709
-
Life restoration of Europasaurus in its habitat
-
Reconstructed skull
-
Teeth of the upper jaw
-
Skulls of two dicraeosaurids in dorsal view, showing the placement of the parietal fenestra and the postparietal foramen
-
Skull of Massospondylus with fenestrae labelled. The jugal is similar in form to that of Europasaurus
-
Articulated neck-vertebrae of specimen DFMMh/FV 838
-
Two back-vertebrae
-
Back-vertebra in front view
-
Skull compared to that of related Giraffatitan
-
Lower jaws at various growth stages
-
Reconstructed adult and juvenile skeletons; note humans for scale
-
Late Jurassic terrestrial localities in Europe. '7' indicates the Langenberg Quarry
-
Skeleton of coexisting Knoetschkesuchus
-
Size comparison of the native torvosaur (blue) and arriving theropod (green)
See also
In Spanish: Europasaurus holgeri para niños
