Sonorasaurus
"Sonora lizard"
- Lived
- 106 to 94 million years ago, Early Cretaceous to Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Group
- Sauropods, Brachiosauridae
- Found in
- United States
- Named by
- Ratkevich 1998
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
100 million years ago
Habitat
It lived in a fairly dry inland woodland of evergreen trees, with rainfall that varied greatly. Acrocanthosaurus is also reported from the Turney Ranch Formation.
Field notes
About Sonorasaurus
What it was like
Sonorasaurus was a brachiosaurid, a long-necked plant eater with front legs longer than its hind legs, like a smaller cousin of Brachiosaurus. Only part of the skeleton is known.
Its world
It lived in the Cretaceous, in what is now Arizona. It shared its world with the large predator Acrocanthosaurus.
How it was found
Ratkevich named Sonorasaurus in 1998. It is the state dinosaur of Arizona.
Field gallery
More views of Sonorasaurus
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 Sonorasaurus.
The evidence
The science behind Sonorasaurus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- A partial skeleton preserves back and tail vertebrae, ribs and parts of the shoulders and limbs.
- Its bones have features that place it in the same family as Brachiosaurus.
- Growth rings in its bones show slow, uneven growth as it approached adult size.
Borrowed from relatives
- The missing head and neck are usually restored by comparison with Brachiosaurus and Giraffatitan.
- Its skin covering is inferred from other sauropods.
Still unknown
- The shape of its head and the proportions of its neck.
- Its color and skin pattern.
- Whether it traveled in groups.
Discovery timeline
- 1998Named itRatkevich
- 2013Family treeMannion et al.
- 2016Full descriptionD’Emic, Foreman & Jud
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Sonorasaurus
Named it
Named a new brachiosaurid from a partial skeleton found in Arizona.
New Cretaceous brachiosaurid dinosaur, Sonorasaurus thompsoni gen. et sp. nov., from Arizona. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science 31: 71-82
No link available
Family tree
Included Sonorasaurus in a wider family tree and found that its placement changed with the analysis used.
Osteology of the Late Jurassic Portuguese sauropod dinosaurLusotitan atalaiensis(Macronaria) and the evolutionary history of basal titanosauriforms. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 168: 98-206
Read the paper : Osteology of the Late Jurassic Portuguese sauropod dinosaurLusotitan atalaiensis(Macronaria) and the evolutionary history of basal titanosauriforms (opens in a new tab)Full description
Confirmed its brachiosaurid identity and found that it grew slowly in a dry evergreen woodland.
Anatomy, systematics, paleoenvironment, growth, and age of the sauropod dinosaurSonorasaurus thompsonifrom the Cretaceous of Arizona, USA. Journal of Paleontology 90: 102-132
Read the paper : Anatomy, systematics, paleoenvironment, growth, and age of the sauropod dinosaurSonorasaurus thompsonifrom the Cretaceous of Arizona, USA (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Brachiosauridae
Sources: Wikidata