| Rhoetosaurus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leg bones | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Gravisauria |
| Genus: | †Rhoetosaurus Longman,1926 |
| Type species | |
| †Rhoetosaurus brownei Longman, 1926 | |
Rhoetosaurus (meaning "Rhoetos lizard"), named afterRhoetus, atitan inGreek mythology, is agenus ofsauropoddinosaur from theJurassic (Oxfordian)[1]Walloon Coal Measures of what is now easternAustralia.Rhoetosaurus is estimated to have been about 15 metres (49 ft) long, weighing about 9 tonnes (8.9 long tons; 9.9 short tons).[2] Subsequent authors have sometimes misspelled the name:Rhaetosaurus (de Lapparent & Laverat, 1955);Rheteosaurus (Yadagiri, Prasad & Satsangi, 1979).
In 1924,Heber Longman, self-trained paleontologist at (and later director of) theQueensland Museum inBrisbane, learned of a large fossil reptile skeleton exposed in theWalloon Coal Measures atDurham Downs nearRoma in southern inlandQueensland. The station manager, Arthur Browne, forwarded fragments of bone to Longman, and was honoured with the dinosaur's specific namebrownei.The initial collection was of 22 tail vertebrae, including a series of 16 consecutive bones, and other fragmentary hindlimb pieces. Soon after Longman announced the new discovery, he visited the station and arranged for more material of the same skeleton to be sent to the Queensland Museum. These included additional vertebrae from the thoracic area, bits of rib, more caudals and more of the femur and pelvis as well as a cervical vertebra. Further material was collected byMary Wade and Alan Bartholomai in 1975, and still more by Drs. Tom Rich, Anne Warren,Zhao Xijin, andRalph Molnar. By 2012, prepared material comprised 40 vertebrae, five partial thoracic ribs, part of the sacrum, fragments of the ilia, an ischium, the left and right pubic bones, and much of the right hind limb (femur, tibia, fibula, astragalus, and pes). More bones are yet to be removed from rock.[3]
Rhoetosaurus is among the best-known sauropods thus far discovered inAustralia, as well as for theJurassic ofGondwana.
Initially Longman, with advice from leading German paleontologistFriedrich von Huene, noted the primitive nature ofRhoetosaurus, and so for a long time, it was called acetiosaurid. More recently, others have compared it toShunosaurus, based on similar general age and several traits of its hind limbs.[3] Given its supposed relationship toShunosaurus, which had a clubbed tail,Rhoetosaurus has also been hypothesized to possess something similar.[original research?] The form of the nearly complete hind foot ([1])at least suggests that lies outside the more derivedNeosauropoda, but the material needs further study to determine its precise positioning in sauropod evolution.[3]
![[1]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fhome.alphalink.com.au%2f%7edannj%2frhoefoot.jpg){kind=link}