Marisaurus
- Lived
- 72 to 66 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Group
- Sauropods, Balochisauridae
- Found in
- Pakistan
- Named by
- Malkani 2003
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
70 million years ago
Habitat
A river plain where floods laid down red mud, in what is now Pakistan. Pakisaurus, Balochisaurus and Vitakrisaurus are also recorded from the Vitakri Formation.
Field notes
About Marisaurus
What it was like
Marisaurus was described as a titanosaur, a long-necked plant eater. It is known from scattered bones.
Its world
It lived about 72 to 66 million years ago, near the end of the Cretaceous, in what is now Pakistan. It comes from the Vitakri Formation.
How it was found
Malkani named Marisaurus in 2003. Whether the scattered bones define a separate genus, and whether the name was properly published, remain unsettled.
Field gallery
More views of Marisaurus
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
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 Marisaurus.
The evidence
The science behind Marisaurus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- Tail vertebrae assigned to Marisaurus include a rounded vertebra with bulging joints at both ends.
- A later description assigns shoulder blade, pelvis and thigh bone fragments from separate surface-find sites to Marisaurus.
Borrowed from relatives
- Its head, neck and most of the body are unknown, so restorations rely on titanosaurs in general.
Still unknown
- Which of the collected tail vertebrae belong to Marisaurus rather than other dinosaurs.
- Whether any of the bony skin plates found in these rocks belonged to it.
- Its complete size and head shape.
Discovery timeline
- 2003Named itMalkani
- 2010SkinSadiq Malkani
- 2021New findMalkani
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Marisaurus
Named it
Introduced Marisaurus among the long-necked dinosaurs reported from Pakistan.
Discovery of partial skull and dentary of Titanosauria (sauropod dinosaur) from the Late Cretaceous Pab Formation of Vitakri area, Barkhan District, Balochistan, Pakistan. Geological Bulletin, University of Peshawar 36: 65-71
No link available
Skin
Described fragmentary bony skin plates from the same rocks, which are hard to assign to any one titanosaur.
Osteoderms of Pakisauridae and Balochisauridae (Titanosauria, Sauropoda, Dinosauria) in Pakistan. Journal of Earth Science 21: 198-203
Read the paper : Osteoderms of Pakisauridae and Balochisauridae (Titanosauria, Sauropoda, Dinosauria) in Pakistan (opens in a new tab)New find
Described assigned tail, shoulder, pelvic and thigh fragments from separate sites, acknowledging that some collected vertebrae could belong to other dinosaurs.
Formal Description of Mesozoic and Cenozoic Biotas Found from Pakistan. Open Journal of Geology 11: 411-455
Read the paper : Formal Description of Mesozoic and Cenozoic Biotas Found from Pakistan (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Balochisauridae
Sources: Wikidata