Europasaurus
Europasaurus is a basal sauropod from the titanosaur clade, but very much smaller than usual.[1]
| Europasaurus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Reconstructed skeleton | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Unrecognized taxon (fix): | Bagualosauria |
| Family: | Brachiosauridae |
| Genus: | Europasaurus Mateus et al. in Sander et al., 2006 |
| Species: | E. holgeri
|
| Binomial name | |
| Europasaurus holgeri Mateus et al. in Sander et al., 2006
| |
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.[2] Nopsca's estate was ruined by World War I, but his find was recorded as Magyarosaurus.
Europasaurus Media
Preparation of the fossil bones
Block with partially prepared bones of specimen DFMMh/FV 709
Life restoration of Europasaurus in its habitat
Skull of Europasaurus holgeri.
Row of teeth of Europasaurus holgeri.
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
Dorsal vertebrae of Europasaurus holgeri.
Back-vertebra in front view
