Janenschia
"Janensch's one"
- Lived
- 149 to 143 million years ago, Late Jurassic
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Length
- about 20 m (66 ft)
- Group
- Sauropods
- Found in
- Tanzania
- Named by
- Wild 1991
Size comparison
To scale
Scale in metersOutline: typical sauropod shape
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
145 million years ago
Habitat
Coastal plains and tidal flats lay beside shallow seas in the Tendaguru region. Giraffatitan, Dicraeosaurus and Kentrosaurus lived in this landscape.
Field notes
About Janenschia
What it was like
Janenschia was a large long-necked sauropod known from limb bones, including sturdy feet. Its place among sauropods has long been debated.
Its world
It lived in the Late Jurassic in what is now Tanzania. Its bones come from the Tendaguru Formation, a rich site shared with the giant Giraffatitan, the spiked Kentrosaurus and the predators Ceratosaurus and Elaphrosaurus.
How it was found
Wild named Janenschia in 1991. The name honors the paleontologist who led the great digs at Tendaguru.
Field gallery
More views of Janenschia
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
1 of 3
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Janenschia.
The evidence
The science behind Janenschia
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- The original specimen preserves part of a hind limb, including sturdy foot bones.
- Other specimens add forelimb and hind limb bones.
Borrowed from relatives
- The missing head, neck and tail are restored by comparison with other sauropods, including Bellusaurus and Haestasaurus.
Still unknown
- The shape and proportions of its head and neck.
- Its skin texture and color.
- How its body changed as it grew.
Discovery timeline
- 1991Named itWild
- 2009Its worldBussert, Heinrich & Aberhan
- 2019RedescriptionMannion et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Janenschia
Named it
Gave the sauropod previously called Tornieria robusta its own genus, Janenschia.
Janenschia n. g. robusta (E. Fraas 1908) pro Tornieria robusta (E. Fraas 1908) (Reptilia, Saurischia, Sauropodomorpha) [Janenschia n. g. robusta (E. Fraas 1908) for Tornieria robusta (E. Fraas 1908) (Reptilia, Saurischia, Sauropodomorpha)]. Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde, Serie B (Geologie und Paläontologie) 173: 1-4
No link available
Its world
Reconstructed the coastal plains, tidal flats and shallow seas where the Tendaguru dinosaur beds formed.
The Tendaguru Formation (Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, southern Tanzania): definition, palaeoenvironments, and sequence stratigraphy. Fossil Record 12: 141-174
Read the paper : The Tendaguru Formation (Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, southern Tanzania): definition, palaeoenvironments, and sequence stratigraphy (opens in a new tab)Redescription
Redescribed Janenschia and placed it outside the titanosaurs, alongside Bellusaurus and Haestasaurus in an earlier sauropod branch.
Taxonomic affinities of the putative titanosaurs from the Late Jurassic Tendaguru Formation of Tanzania: phylogenetic and biogeographic implications for eusauropod dinosaur evolution. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 185: 784-909
Read the paper : Taxonomic affinities of the putative titanosaurs from the Late Jurassic Tendaguru Formation of Tanzania: phylogenetic and biogeographic implications for eusauropod dinosaur evolution (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Eusauropoda
Sources: Wikidata