Pelorosaurus (meaning "monstrous lizard") was a large herbivore. Pelorosaurus lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 145-100 million years ago. Fossils referred to Pelorosaurus have been found in England and Portugal.
Naming
Gideon Mantell named the type species, Pelorosaurus conybeari, in 1850. Unlike Richard Owen, who mistakenly identified Cetiosaurus, another sauropod dinosaur, as a gigantic, sea-going crocodile-like reptile, Mantell identified Pelorosaurus as a dinosaur that lived on land. For that, Pelorosaurus was the first sauropod ever to have been identified as a dinosaur.
Family
Pelorosaurus appears to have been a brachiosaurid, similar to the related genera Brachiosaurus, Lusotitan, and Abydosaurus. Friedrich von Huene understood the possible link with its American cousin Brachiosaurus, so he placed in the Brachiosaurinae. Pelorosaurus belonged to the Brachiosauridae.
Species
Pelorosaurus conybeari, Mantell, 1850 (Melville, 1849, (originally Cetiosaurus conybeari))
Article by Brian Tinnon 2/15/12