Ampelosaurus
Sign in to saveAmpelosaurus ( ; meaning "vine lizard") is a titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now France. Its type species is A. atacis, named by Le Loeuff in 1995. Its remains were found in a level dating from 71.5 million years ago representing the early Maastrichtian.
Article
13 sectionsContents
- Discovery and naming
- Purported ''Ampelosaurus'' remains from other localities
- Description
- Skeleton
- Vertebrae
- Distinguishing anatomical features
- Classification
- Paleobiology
- Growth
- Histology
- Paleoecology
- Biogeography
- References
Ampelosaurus ( ; meaning "vine lizard") is a titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now France. Its type species is A. atacis, named by Le Loeuff in 1995. Its remains were found in a level dating from 71.5 million years ago representing the early Maastrichtian.
Like most sauropods, it would have had a long neck and tail but it also carried armor in the form of osteoderms. In 2005, over 500 bones have been assigned to Ampelosaurus and additional material has been found since, including a partially articulated skeleton with skull, which makes it one of the best known dinosaurs in France. However, recent studies suggest that the type locality is not a monospecific titanosaur bone bed and that part of the bones attributed to Ampelosaurus probably belong to a second titanosaurian taxon.