| Alamosaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous (70-65 Mya) | |
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| A restoration of Alamosaurus sanjuanensis by Charlie Rex | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Sauropsida |
| clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Family: | †Saltasauridae |
| Subfamily: | †Opisthocoelicaudiinae |
| Genus: | †Alamosaurus Gilmore, 1922 |
| Type species | |
| †Alamosaurus sanjuanensis Gilmore, 1922 | |
Alamosaurus (meaning "Ojo Alamo lizard" in Greek) is an extinct genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur, comprising a single known species (Alamosaurus sanjuanensis), inhabiting southern North America during the Maastrichtian age of the upper Cretaceous epoch, found within a multitude of fossil formations. Isolated vertebrae and limb bones indicate that it reached sizes comparable to Argentinosaurus and Puertasaurus, which would make it the second largest dinosaur known from North America behind Amphicoelias. Specimens of a juvenile Alamosaurus sanjuanensis have been recovered from only a few meters below the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary in Texas, making it among the last surviving non-avian dinosaur species.
Alamosaurus was a gigantic quadrupedal herbivore with a long neck and tail and relatively long limbs. Its body was at least partly covered in bony armor. Though most of the complete remains come from juvenile or small adult specimens, one fragmentary specimen suggests that adult Alamosaurus could have grown to enormous sizes comparable to the largest known dinosaurs like Argentinosaurus, which has been estimated to weigh 73 tonnes (72 long tons; 80 short tons). It was also around 85ft in length, but some estimates place at a higher range of 92-98ft.
Though no skull has ever been found, rod-shaped teeth have been found with Alamosaurus skeletons and probably belonged to this dinosaur. The vertebrae from the middle part of its tail had elongated centra. Alamosaurus had vertebral lateral fossae that resembled shallow depressions. Fossae that similarly resemble shallow depressions are known from Saltasaurus, Rapetosaurus, Malawisaurus, Aeolosaurus, Gondwanatitan, Dreadnoughtus and Isisaurus. Venenosaurus also had depression-like fossae, but its "depressions" penetrated deeper into the vertebrae, were divided into two chambers, and extend farther into the vertebral columns. Alamosaurus had more robust radii than Venenosaurus.
Description[]
Alamosaurus was a gigantic quadrupedal herbivore with a long neck and tail and relatively long limbs. Its body was at least partly covered in bony armor. Though most of the complete remains come from juvenile or small adult specimens, one fragmentary specimen implies that adult Alamosaurus could have grown to enormous sizes comparable to the largest known dinosaurs such as Argentinosaurus, But according to 2020 estimates by Molina-Perez and Larramendi, the largest individual Alamosaurus weight 38 tons.
References[]
- https://eartharchives.org/articles/remember-the-alamosaurus-america-s-armored-dinosaur-titan/index.html
- https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/dino-directory/alamosaurus.html
- https://www.nps.gov/bibe/learn/nature/alamosaurus.htm
- https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Dino_PDF.pdf
- https://kidadl.com/dinosaur-facts/alamosaurus-facts
- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alamosaurus
In the Media[]
- Alamosaurus appears as a skeleton along with the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton in the Visitor Center of Jurassic Park. Towards the end of the film, it was destroyed in the battle between the Tyrannosaurus rex, Rexy, and the Velociraptor pack, led by The Big One.
- It first made its living appearance in the Magic School Bus episode "The Busasaurus" where Miss Frizzle & the class encountered three Alamosaurus eating leaves.
- The Sauroposeidon model from Clash of the Dinosaurs was used for Alamosaurus in Last Day of the Dinosaurs (even though Alamosaurus had different proportions than Sauroposeidon).
- It also appears in some episodes of Dinosaur Train.
- Within the Land Before Time TV series, the character of Saro has been pinpointed as an Alamosaurus by fans.
- It was originally going to appear in the 2000 Disney Film Dinosaur, but it was scrapped & replaced by Brachiosaurus.
- It was originally going to appear in the 2017 game, Saurian, but was scrapped, as there is no evidence that it lived in the Hell Creek Formation.
- It also appears in the 5th episode of the second season of Prehistoric Planet, where a herd of almost a dozen Alamosaurus were walking down the beach, but one of them, an old male at the age of 70, was at its life's end. A day later, the carcass of the dead Alamosaurus attracts a few Troodontids, then a large male Tyrannosaurus & 2 Quetzalcoatlus.
- It also appears in the Netflix Original Documentary Series, Life on Our Planet.
- Tubble and Hubble from Dink, the Little Dinosaur are Alamosaurus.
Gallery[]
