Rhoetosaurus
Type species Rhoetosaurus brownei
- Lived
- 159 to 158 million years ago, Late Jurassic
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Length
- about 15 m (49 ft)
- Group
- Sauropods
- Found in
- Australia
- Named by
- Longman 1926
Size comparison
To scale
Scale in metersOutline: typical sauropod shape
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
160 million years ago
Habitat
It lived in a moist, warm to temperate part of Jurassic Australia. The surrounding landscape included swamps and rivers that spilled sediment across their banks.
Field notes
About Rhoetosaurus
What it was like
Rhoetosaurus was a sauropod about 15 meters (49 feet) long. It is known from part of the backbone, hips and a hind leg, which show a sturdy animal.
Its world
It lived in the Jurassic, in what is now Australia. It is one of the few Jurassic dinosaurs known from that continent.
How it was found
Longman named Rhoetosaurus in 1926. The type species is Rhoetosaurus brownei. More bones were dug from the same site decades later.
Field gallery
More views of Rhoetosaurus
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
The evidence
The science behind Rhoetosaurus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- The original material and later bones referred to Rhoetosaurus include backbone, ribs, hips and a right hind leg with an almost complete foot.
- The hind foot retained claws on more toes than in most later sauropods.
- Models of its foot joints suggest a thick pad supported the raised bones at the back of the foot.
Borrowed from relatives
- Shunosaurus provides a comparison for the missing skull.
- Cetiosaurus supplies a comparison for the shoulder blade, while Tazoudasaurus provides comparisons for the upper arm and hand.
- Tazoudasaurus also provides comparisons for gaps in the neck and tail.
Still unknown
- The shape of its skull and front limbs.
- Its closest relatives among early sauropods.
- Its skin texture and color.
Discovery timeline
- 1926Named itLongman
- 2012RedescriptionNair & Salisbury
- 2019PostureJannel et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Rhoetosaurus
Named it
Named Rhoetosaurus from a large partial sauropod skeleton found in Australia.
A giant dinosaur from Durham Downs, Queensland. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 8: 183-194
No link available
Redescription
Described the hind leg and foot in detail and placed Rhoetosaurus among early sauropods outside the group containing most later giants.
New anatomical information onRhoetosaurus browneiLongman, 1926, a gravisaurian sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Queensland, Australia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 32: 369-394
Read the paper : New anatomical information onRhoetosaurus browneiLongman, 1926, a gravisaurian sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Queensland, Australia (opens in a new tab)Posture
Modeled the foot joints and proposed that a thick pad helped support the animal's weight beneath its raised foot bones.
“Keep your feet on the ground”: Simulated range of motion and hind foot posture of the Middle Jurassic sauropodRhoetosaurus browneiand its implications for sauropod biology. Journal of Morphology 280: 849-878
Read the paper : “Keep your feet on the ground”: Simulated range of motion and hind foot posture of the Middle Jurassic sauropodRhoetosaurus browneiand its implications for sauropod biology (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Eusauropoda
Sources: Wikidata