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Janenschia
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Janenschia

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Janenschia (named after Werner Janensch) is a genus of large herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic (around 155 to 145 million years ago) Tendaguru Formation of Lindi Region, Tanzania.

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Janenschia.jpg
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20.0
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taxon name
Janenschia
Commons category
Janenschia
start time
155000000-
end time
145000000-
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Contents
  • Discovery and naming
  • See also
  • References

Janenschia (named after Werner Janensch) is a genus of large herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic (around 155 to 145 million years ago) Tendaguru Formation of Lindi Region, Tanzania.

==Discovery and naming== thumb|left|Alternate viewJanenschia has had a convoluted nomenclatural history. In 1907, Eberhard Fraas at "site P", nine hundred metres to the southeast of Tendaguru Hill, discovered two skeletons of gigantic sauropods. They were designated as "Skeleton A" and "Skeleton B". The fossils were transported to the collection of the Stuttgarter Naturaliensammlung in Stuttgart, Germany. Fraas in 1908 decided to name both skeletons as different species of one genus: Gigantosaurus. Skeleton A became Gigantosaurus africanus and skeleton B became Gigantosaurus robustus. The latter species was based on the holotype partial skeleton SMNS 12144, consisting of a right hindlimb. The specific name was inspired by the heavy build of the animal. While doing so, Fraas knew full well that the name Gigantosaurus was already preoccupied by another taxon: Gigantosaurus megalonyx, named by Harry Govier Seeley in 1869. Fraas thought his actions could be justified by the fact that the description by Seeley had been limited and that the material of G. megalonyx had since been referred to another genus, Ornithopsis, by Richard Lydekker.

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