- Barapasaurus
Taxobox|
name = "Barapasaurus"
fossil_range =Early Jurassic
image_width = 250px
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
superordo =Dinosaur ia
ordo =Saurischia
subordo =Sauropodomorpha
infraordo =Sauropoda
familia =Vulcanodontidae
genus = "Barapasaurus"
genus_authority = Jain, Kutty, Roy-Chowdhury, and Chatterjee, 1975
subdivision_ranks =Species
subdivision = "B. tagorei" Jain "et al.", 1975 (type)"Barapasaurus" (pronEng|bəˌrɑːpəˈsɔrəs bah-RAH-pah-sawr-us) meaning 'big-legged lizard', referring to the size of its leg bone (Indian "bara" meaning 'big' and "pa" meaning 'leg' plus Greek "sauros" meaning 'lizard') is a
genus ofdinosaur .Description
Barapasaurus is curious because it is the earliest known
sauropod , dating from the earlyJurassic Period — more precisely the Toarcian age, about 189.6 to 176.5million years ago . This is evident in the unspecialized nature of its form. Later sauropods like "Brachiosaurus " developed their ownecological niche and feeding strategies. However, Barapasaurus was something of an "all-purpose"dinosaur . For example, later sauropods developed hollowvertebra e, as a weight-saving measure. "Barapasaurus" vertebrae, on the other hand, were almost solid, with only the earliest hints of hollowing. ("See also:" "Camarasaurus ".)Despite its early place in dinosaur history, "Barapasaurus" reached a length of about 18
metre s (60 feet), and weighed about 48 tones (53 tons). Its height to the hip was approximately 5.5 metres (18 feet).Environment
Like all sauropods, Barapasaurus was a
herbivore . However, no skull has yet been recovered and so its exact diet has not been determined. A few loneteeth are known but not sufficient to make judgments on diet.Barapasaurus is also important because, although its remains were found in
India , it is very similar to other samples found inEast Africa . From this we can conclude that during the early Jurassic period, these two land masses were still connected or at least only recently divorced.Classification
"Barapasaurus" is included in
Vulcanodontidae rather thanCetiosauridae , another family inSauropoda . This classification is unconfirmed since insufficient work has been done on the skeletons. The description is justified by the narrowsacrum (a boxlike structure of the hip), which is a characteristic of vulcanodontids. However, the dorsal vertebrae display features shared with Cetiosauridae, such as a highneural arch above thevertebral foramen .Currently the only known species is the original "B. tagorsi".
Discovery
The first bones of "Barapasaurus" were recovered in
India in 1960. However, it was not until 1975 that this recovery was made thetype specimen , and the official description published by Jain, Kutty, Roy-Chowdhury and Chatterjee ofCalcutta .Since then, five additional skeletons have been recovered from the
Godavari Valley in southern India. However, none of these included theskull or feet. The remainder of the skeleton is known, so it is theoretically the best-known of the early Jurassic sauropods. Unfortunately, little work has yet been published regarding these discoveries.
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