Outline: a typical sauropod
Brontomerus
"thunder thighs"
- Lived
- 121 to 101 million years ago, Early Cretaceous
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Group
- Sauropods
- Found in
- United States
- Named by
- Taylor et al. 2011
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
110 million years ago
Field notes
About Brontomerus
What it was like
Brontomerus was a long-necked plant eater known from a few bones of an adult and a young animal. Its hip bone had a very large, flared blade at the front, which would have held unusually big thigh muscles.
Those strong legs may have helped it kick at predators or move over rough ground, though that is only a guess from the bones.
Its world
It lived in the Early Cretaceous in what is now Utah, in the United States. Its bones come from the Cedar Mountain Formation, where it shared the land with the giant raptor Utahraptor and the armored Gastonia.
How it was found
Taylor and colleagues named Brontomerus in 2011, from a single find.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
Close relatives
Other members of Somphospondyli
Sources: WikidataNamed in: M. P. Taylor, M. J. Wedel, and R. L. Cifelli. 2011. A new sauropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah, USA. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 56(1):75-98