Rhoetosaurus

Name: Rhoetosaurus (Rhoetos lizard).
Phonetic: Rhoe-toe-sore-us.
Named By: Heber Longman - 1926.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Sauropodomorpha, Sauropoda.
Species: R. brownei (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Estimated 12-15 meters long.
Known locations: Australia, Queensland - Hutton Sandstone Formation.
Time period: Oxfordian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Partial remains including ribs, rear limbs, ischium, partial pubis, caudal and dorsal vertebrae, small amount of cervical vertebrae. Other specimens have been found since initial discovery.

       Rhoetosaurus was the first sauropod dinosaur discovered in Australia, and for a long time it was one of only two sauropods, the other being Austrosaurus, known to have come from there. In 2009 two other sauropods called Diamantinasaurus and Wintonotitan were named, although all four are only represented by partial remains.
       Although it is widely thought that Rhoetosaurus comes from the Bajocian period, there is some uncertainty to this.

Further reading
- A giant dinosaur from Durham Downs, Queensland - Heber A. Longman - 1926.
- The giant dinosaur Rhoetosaurus brownei - Heber A. Longman - 1927.
- New anatomical information on Rhoetosaurus brownei Longman, 1926, a gravisaurian sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Queensland, Australia. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 32 (2): 369–94. - Jay P. Nair & Steven W. Salisbury - 2012.
- Refined age and geological context of two of Australia's mostimportant Jurassic vertebrate taxa (Rhoetosaurus brownei and Siderops kehli), Queensland. - Gondwana Research. - C. N. Todd, E. M. Roberts, E. M. Knutsen, A. C. Rozefelds, H. -Q.Huang & Spandler - 2019.

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