Nicksaurus
- Lived
- 72 to 66 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Group
- Sauropods, Saltasauridae
- Found in
- Pakistan
- Named by
- Malkani 2014
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
70 million years ago
Habitat
It lived on the river plains of what is now Pakistan. Other dinosaurs reported from the Vitakri Formation include Pakisaurus, Balochisaurus and Vitakrisaurus.
Field notes
About Nicksaurus
What it was like
Nicksaurus was named as a titanosaur, a long-necked plant eater, from a few bones.
Its world
It lived about 72 to 66 million years ago, at the end of the Late Cretaceous, in what is now Pakistan. Its bones come from the Vitakri Formation.
How it was found
Malkani named it in 2014. Its bones are fragmentary, and many scientists doubt that it can be told apart from other titanosaurs of the region.
Field gallery
More views of Nicksaurus
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
1 of 2
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 Nicksaurus.
The evidence
The science behind Nicksaurus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- The type material, gathered at one site, includes a toothed jaw piece, skull fragments, neck, back and tail vertebrae, and limb bones.
- Its teeth are slender and taper gradually, its tail vertebrae are short and broad, and the lower ends of its shin bones are stout and wide.
- Later studies renamed several bones: a supposed hip bone became a shoulder blade, and one skull fragment was called the front of the upper jaw in one study and of the lower jaw in the next.
Borrowed from relatives
- Its long neck and four-legged body are restored using better-known titanosaurs such as Saltasaurus and Isisaurus.
- The missing upper skull can be filled in from titanosaurs with known heads, such as Tapuiasaurus.
Still unknown
- Whether all the assigned bones belong to the same animal, and whether tail bones, a shoulder blade and an armor plate from a second site belong to it.
- Whether it can be reliably separated from other titanosaurs.
- Its skin covering and color.
Discovery timeline
- 2014Named itMalkani
- 2021Full descriptionMalkani
- 2022New findMalkani
- 2023Fossil sitesMalkani
- 2024RedescriptionMalkani
- 2025RedescriptionMalkani
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Nicksaurus
Named it
Introduced Nicksaurus among titanosaurs from Pakistan and illustrated assigned backbone and limb bones.
Dinosaurs from the Jurassic and Cretaceous systems of Pakistan: their paleobiogeographic link. The History of Life: A View from the Southern Hemisphere. 4th International Palaeontological Congress. Abstract Volume.
No link available
Full description
Gave the formal description of the type, including a toothed jaw, skull fragments, vertebrae and limb bones, with slender teeth and broad shin bone ends.
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)New find
Referred tail vertebrae, a shoulder blade and an armor plate from a second site to Nicksaurus, based on similar tail bones.
Plates Boundary and Structural Geology of Balochistan and Indus Basins through Field Observations on Chaman Transform Fault and Western Indus Suture (Pakistan): Dinosaurs from Pakistan with Attributed Bones and Key Features: Titanosaurs from India with Updated Assessment on <i>Jainosaurus</i>. Open Journal of Geology 12: 1032-1079
Read the paper : Plates Boundary and Structural Geology of Balochistan and Indus Basins through Field Observations on Chaman Transform Fault and Western Indus Suture (Pakistan): Dinosaurs from Pakistan with Attributed Bones and Key Features: Titanosaurs from India with Updated Assessment on <i>Jainosaurus</i> (opens in a new tab)Fossil sites
Reviewed the rocks and titanosaur remains of Pakistan, including the material assigned to Nicksaurus.
A Glance on the Mineral Deposits and Stratigraphic Sequential Variations and Structures in Different Sections of Indus Basin (Pakistan): New Titanosaurian Sauropod Dinosaurs from the Latest Maastrichtian Vitakri Formation of Pakistan. Open Journal of Geology 13: 1069-1138
Read the paper : A Glance on the Mineral Deposits and Stratigraphic Sequential Variations and Structures in Different Sections of Indus Basin (Pakistan): New Titanosaurian Sauropod Dinosaurs from the Latest Maastrichtian Vitakri Formation of Pakistan (opens in a new tab)Redescription
Reviewed the bones again, reidentifying a supposed hip bone as a shoulder blade and describing broad neck vertebrae, short tail vertebrae and a robust thigh bone.
New Data on Coal, Gypsum, Iron and Silica Sand Deposits and Geochemical Exploration (Pakistan): Revision of 25 Years History of Dinosaur Discoveries from Pakistan. Open Journal of Geology 14: 431-511
Read the paper : New Data on Coal, Gypsum, Iron and Silica Sand Deposits and Geochemical Exploration (Pakistan): Revision of 25 Years History of Dinosaur Discoveries from Pakistan (opens in a new tab)Redescription
Identified a toothed piece as the curved front of the lower jaw and reidentified pieces once called upper arm bones as a shoulder blade, a calf bone and a shin bone.
Geology and Mineral Resources of Some Districts of Pakistan: Recent Found Paleontological Sites and New Titanosaur from Pakistan and First Diplodocid Dinosaur from Indo-Pakistan and Asia. Open Journal of Geology 15: 671-715
Read the paper : Geology and Mineral Resources of Some Districts of Pakistan: Recent Found Paleontological Sites and New Titanosaur from Pakistan and First Diplodocid Dinosaur from Indo-Pakistan and Asia (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Saltasauridae
Sources: Wikidata