Isisaurus

Taxobox
name = "Isisaurus"
fossil_range = Late Cretaceous

---

image_caption = Illustration of "Isisaurus colberti".
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
superordo = Dinosauria
ordo = Saurischia
subordo = Sauropodomorpha
unranked_familia = Titanosauria
familia = Saltasauridae
genus = "Isisaurus"
genus_authority = Wilson & Upchurch, 2003
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =
* "I. colberti" (Jain & Bandyopadhyay, 1997) (type)

"Isisaurus" (named after the Indian Statistical Institute) is a genus of dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period. "Isisaurus" was a sauropod (specifically a titanosaur), which lived in what is now India.

The type specimen, "Isisaurus colberti", was originally described as "Titanosaurus colberti" by Jain and Bandyopadhyay in 1997, but was placed in its own genus, by Wilson and Upchurch, in 2003. It had a "short, vertically-directed neck and long forearms", making it considerably different from other sauropods. Based on this specimen, "Isisaurus" would have grown to about 18 meters (60 feet) in length and weighed about 14,000 kg (15 tons).Montague J.R. (2006). "Estimates of body size and geological time of origin for 612 dinosaur genera (Saurischia, Ornithischia)", "Florida Scientist". 69(4): 243-257.] "Isisaurus" is known from much better remains than most titanosaurs. Most of its postcranial skeleton is known.

Fungus in coprolites believed to have been voided by "Isisaurus" indicate that it ate leaves from several species of tree, since these fungi are known to be pathogens which infect tree leaves.

References

* [http://micropal.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/51/1/73 Fungi in dinosaurian (Isisaurus) coprolites from the Lameta Formation (Maastrichtian) and its reflection on food habit and environment http://micropal.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/51/1/73]

Links

* [http://www.users.qwest.net/~jstweet1/saltasauridae.htm Saltasauridae] from "Thescelosaurus!"
* [http://internt.nhm.ac.uk/jdsml/microsites-reprocess/nature-online/dino-directory/detail.dsml?Genus=Isisaurus "Isisaurus"] in the Dino Directory.