| Moabosaurus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Reconstructed skeleton of Moabosaurus utahensis | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| clade: | Neosauropoda |
| Superorder: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Sauropodamorpha |
| Genus: | Moabosaurus Brit et,. al, 2017 |
| Type species | |
| Moabosaurus utahensis Britt et., al | |
Moabosaurus (meaning "Moab reptile") is a genus of titanosauriform sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah, United States.
Moabosaurus tooth iin lingual view. Unlike in earlier turiasaurs, Moabosaurus developed a robust set of teeth, more spatulate in shape much similar to unrelated Camarasaurus.
Description
Moabosaurus is characterized by a suite of features including: extremely low neural spines that are thin, transverse ridges in the posterior cervical vertebrae and anterior dorsal vertebrae; strongly procoelous proximal and distal caudal vertebrae; and an ulna with well-developed lateral and medial anteroproximal ridges combined with a large olecranon process. According to paleontologist, Brooks Britts, the braincase of this sauropod held a very small brain, in comparable size to a Chinese eggroll. As an estimate the overall length of Moabosaurus suggests it was around 12m (40ft). The front limbs of the dinosaur very short in contrast to much larger sauropods with exception of Camarasauridae and Brachiosauridae groups.
Discovery and naming
Moabosaurus was collected from the Dalton Wells Quarry, which is about 20 km northwest of Moab, Utah. The quarry produced parts of at least 18 individuals of Moabosaurus based on the number of braincases present, totalling over 5,500 bones. Many of the recovered bones are fragmentary due to intense trampling as evidenced by breakage and trample scratches. Another factor that degraded the bones before burial was consumption by insects. Insects, probably beetle larvae, consumed portions of the bones that were in contact with the ground, as evidenced by burrows and mandible marks. Later, the bones were transported a short distance by a stream and buried in sediments reworked from the underlying Morrison Formation. Detrital zircon crystals from the Dalton Wells Quarry yield an age of 125 million years, indicating Moabosaurus is Aptian in age.