Ampelosaurus
Name:
Ampelosaurus
(Vine lizard).
Phonetic: Am-pe-lo-sore-us.
Named By: Jean Le Loeuff - 1995.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropoda, Sauropodomorpha, Sauropoda,
Titanosauria.
Species: A. atacis (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Estimated around 15 meters long.
Known locations: France - Marnes Rouges
Inf�rieures Formation.
Time period: Late Campanian/Early Maastrichtian of
the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Several specimens revealing
most of the post cranial skeleton, though the skull is still only
known from partial remains.
Along
with Magyarosaurus,
Ampelosaurus is currently one of the best known
sauropods from Europe and is in fact another example of a Late
Cretaceous era titanosaur. Remains of Ampelosaurus
have been found in
what would have been a floodplain in the late Cretaceous. However
when the fossils were discovered they were now near a vineyard (a
place where grapes are grown for the purpose of making wine) which
inspired the name Ampelosaurus which means ‘vine
lizard’.
Despite
the fact that the skull of Ampelosaurus is
still only known from
partial remains, there is still enough of this dinosaur,
particularly the post cranial skeleton, to reconstruct Ampelosaurus
with confidence. The neck of Ampelosaurus is
quite short in
proportion to the body, something which could indicate a
specialisation in low to medium height vegetation. Like with many
other titanosaurs, Ampelosaurus also had bony
armour called
osteoderms (alternatively scutes) which were bony plates that grew
within the skin.
Another
titanosaur sauropod that lived in France at the end of the Cretaceous
period is Hypselosaurus.
Further reading
- Ampelosaurus atacis (nov. gen., nov. sp.), un
nouveau Titanosauridae
(Dinosauria, Sauropoda) du Cr�tac� sup�rieur de la Haute Vall�e de
l'Aude (France)" (PDF). Comptes Rendus de l'Acad�mie des Sciences. IIa.
321: 693–699. - J. Le Loeuff - 1995.
- Ampelosaurus atacis, the dinosaur of the wineyard. - The Dinosaur
Society UK Quarterly. 1 (4): 1–2. - L. Le Loeuff & E. Buffetaut
- 1996.
- Osteology of Ampelosaurus atacis (Titanosauria)
from Southern France.
- J. Le Loeuff - 2005.
- Modified Laminar Bone in Ampelosaurus atacis and
Other Titanosaurs
(Sauropoda): Implications for Life History and Physiology. - PLoS ONE.
7 (5): e36907. - N. Klein, P. M. Sander, K. Stein, J. Le Loeuff, J. L.
Carballido & E. Buffetaut (Andrew A. Farke (ed.)) - 2010.
- Neurocranial Osteology and Neuroanatomy of a Late Cretaceous
Titanosaurian Sauropod from Spain (Ampelosaurus sp.). - F. Knoll, R. C.
Ridgely, F. Ortega, J. Sanz & L. M. Witmer - 2013.
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