Pelorosaurus
"monstrous lizard"
Type species Pelorosaurus conybeari
- Lived
- 145 to 126 million years ago, Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Length
- about 25 m (82 ft)
- Group
- Sauropods
- Found in
- France and United Kingdom
- Named by
- Mantell 1850
Size comparison
To scale
Scale in metersOutline: typical sauropod shape
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
135 million years ago
Habitat
It probably lived on river plains in what is now England. Iguanodon, Hylaeosaurus and Polacanthus occur in the same rock succession.
Field notes
About Pelorosaurus
What it was like
Pelorosaurus was a large sauropod, a long-necked plant eater related to Brachiosaurus. It is known mainly from a large upper arm bone. Many other bones have been placed in it over the years, which makes its size hard to judge.
Its world
It lived in the Early Cretaceous, in what is now England. It comes from the Tunbridge Wells Sand, where it shared the land with Iguanodon and the armored Hylaeosaurus and Polacanthus.
How it was found
Mantell named Pelorosaurus in 1850. The type species is Pelorosaurus conybeari. It was the first sauropod recognized as a land animal rather than a sea creature.
Field gallery
More views of Pelorosaurus
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 Pelorosaurus.
The evidence
The science behind Pelorosaurus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- A long, slender upper arm bone is the best-known part of Pelorosaurus.
- Tail vertebrae and bones from beneath the tail are also included in its original fossil material.
Borrowed from relatives
- The missing head, neck and legs are usually restored using better-known sauropods such as Brachiosaurus.
Still unknown
- Its complete body proportions and adult size.
- Its exact place among the early titanosauriform sauropods.
- Its skin texture and color.
Discovery timeline
- 1850Named itMantell
- 2007Same rocksTAYLOR & NAISH
- 2015RedescriptionUpchurch, Mannion & Taylor
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Pelorosaurus
Named it
Named Pelorosaurus from remains that included a large upper arm bone, interpreting it as a giant land reptile.
XVI. On the pelorosaurus; an undescribed gigantic terrestrial reptile whose remains are associated with those of the iguanodon and other saurians in the strata of Tilgate Forest, in Sussex. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London: 379-390
Read the paper : XVI. On the pelorosaurus; an undescribed gigantic terrestrial reptile whose remains are associated with those of the iguanodon and other saurians in the strata of Tilgate Forest, in Sussex (opens in a new tab)Same rocks
Named Xenoposeidon and reviewed the tangled history of Pelorosaurus and other sauropods from the same rock succession.
AN UNUSUAL NEW NEOSAUROPOD DINOSAUR FROM THE LOWER CRETACEOUS HASTINGS BEDS GROUP OF EAST SUSSEX, ENGLAND. Palaeontology 50: 1547-1564
Read the paper : AN UNUSUAL NEW NEOSAUROPOD DINOSAUR FROM THE LOWER CRETACEOUS HASTINGS BEDS GROUP OF EAST SUSSEX, ENGLAND (opens in a new tab)Redescription
Compared the arm bones and separated Haestasaurus from Pelorosaurus, giving the skin-bearing specimen its own genus.
The Anatomy and Phylogenetic Relationships of “Pelorosaurus“ becklesii (Neosauropoda, Macronaria) from the Early Cretaceous of England. PLOS ONE 10: e0125819
Read the paper : The Anatomy and Phylogenetic Relationships of “Pelorosaurus“ becklesii (Neosauropoda, Macronaria) from the Early Cretaceous of England (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Titanosauriformes
Sources: Wikidata