Where its fossils were found
The evidence
No finds with map coordinates are recorded yet.
Habitat
River channels and floodplains in southeastern Brazil. Other titanosaurs from the same rock unit include Brasilotitan and Maxakalisaurus.
Field notes
About Adamantisaurus
What it was like
Adamantisaurus was a titanosaur, a long-necked, four-legged plant eater. It is known only from a few tail bones, so little is known about its size or shape.
Its world
It lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is now southeastern Brazil.
How it was found
Santucci and Bertini named Adamantisaurus in 2006. Its bones had been found decades earlier.
Field gallery
More views of Adamantisaurus
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
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The evidence
The science behind Adamantisaurus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- A short connected series of bones from the base of the tail, with bones that hung beneath it.
- The bony spines above the tail vertebrae were short and widened sideways.
Borrowed from relatives
- Almost the whole body is restored from other titanosaurs, including the long neck and pillar-like legs.
- Skulls of Tapuiasaurus and Sarmientosaurus offer comparisons for its missing head.
- The compact front feet and padded hindfeet follow titanosaurs such as Opisthocoelicaudia.
Still unknown
- Its full size and the proportions of its head, neck and limbs.
- Whether it carried bony armor in its skin.
- Its color and closest relatives within the titanosaurs.
Discovery timeline
- 2006Named itSANTUCCI & BERTINI
- 2011Close relativeZaher et al.
- 2016Close relativeMartínez et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Adamantisaurus
Named it
Named Adamantisaurus from connected tail bones with short, sideways-expanded spines.
A NEW TITANOSAUR FROM WESTERN SÃO PAULO STATE, UPPER CRETACEOUS BAURU GROUP, SOUTH‐EAST BRAZIL. Palaeontology 49: 59-66
Read the paper : A NEW TITANOSAUR FROM WESTERN SÃO PAULO STATE, UPPER CRETACEOUS BAURU GROUP, SOUTH‐EAST BRAZIL (opens in a new tab)Close relative
Described the long, low skull of Tapuiasaurus, a useful comparison for the missing head of Adamantisaurus.
A Complete Skull of an Early Cretaceous Sauropod and the Evolution of Advanced Titanosaurians. PLoS ONE 6: e16663
Read the paper : A Complete Skull of an Early Cretaceous Sauropod and the Evolution of Advanced Titanosaurians (opens in a new tab)Close relative
Described the skull of Sarmientosaurus, showing that titanosaurs had varied head shapes.
A Basal Lithostrotian Titanosaur (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) with a Complete Skull: Implications for the Evolution and Paleobiology of Titanosauria. PLOS ONE 11: e0151661
Read the paper : A Basal Lithostrotian Titanosaur (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) with a Complete Skull: Implications for the Evolution and Paleobiology of Titanosauria (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Rinconsauria
Sources: Wikidata