| Tendaguria | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Anterior dorsal vertebra ofT. tanzaniensis | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Eusauropoda |
| Clade: | †Turiasauria |
| Genus: | †Tendaguria Bonaparteet al.,2000 |
| Species: | †T. tanzaniensis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Tendaguria tanzaniensis Bonaparteet al., 2000 | |
Tendaguria (/ˌtɛndəˈɡjʊəriə/TEN-də-GURE-ee-ə; meaning "theTendaguru one") is agenus of herbivoroussauropoddinosaur from the LateJurassic ofLindi Region,Tanzania.
In 1911, German geologistWilhelm Bornhardt atNambango inGerman East Africa discovered two sauropod vertebrae, fifteen kilometers (nine miles) southeast ofTendaguru Hill. These were described byWerner Janensch in 1929, but not named.[1]
The finds were formally named byJosé Fernando Bonaparte,Wolf-Dieter Heinrich andRupert Wild in 2000. Thetype species isTendaguria tanzaniensis (/tænˌzeɪniˈɛnsɪs/tan-ZAY-nee-EN-siss). The generic name refers to the Tendaguru, the area of the great German palaeontological expeditions between 1909 and 1912. Thespecific name was "after Tanzania, the country where the holotype was collected".[2] The territory of present Tanzania largely coincides with that of the former German East Africa.[relevant?]
The type specimen consists of twosyntypes, MB.R.2092.1 (NB4) and MB.R.2092.2 (NB5), probably uncovered in theUpper Saurian Bed (Obere Dinosauriermergel),Tendaguru Series, dating from theTithonian stage of the Late Jurassic. The specimens are two anterior dorsal vertebrae, part of the collection of theBerlin's Natural History Museum. They probably belong to the same individual, having been found at a short distance from each other. Cervical vertebra MB.R.2091.31 (G45) was also referred toTendaguria, also from the Upper Saurian Bed, found 600 meters south of Tendaguru Hill at Quarry G.[2]
Tendaguria was a large sauropod from the Tendaguru fossil locality. Its length is estimated at twenty meters (sixty-six feet). It can be distinguished from other sauropods by the presence of two distinct cavities on thediapophyses of the anterior dorsal vertebrae. One is located behind and lateral to theprezygapophysis, on the anterior section of the diapophysis, while the other is behind the prezygapophyses. Additionally, it is unique from otherturiasaurs in that it has a defined ridge in the middle of the anteriormost dorsal spines.[3]
Due to its uniquemorphology,Tendaguria defied classification in the original description, where the authors placed it asSauropodaincertae sedis, though also naming a separateTendaguriidae. It shows a mix of basal and derived traits, indicating a position outside, respectively inside[clarification needed],Neosauropoda. A cervical vertebra referred toTendaguria because of a similar low spine shows some similarities toCamarasaurus.[2] In 2014 it was included in acladogram generated in the redescription ofDiamantinasaurus, where it was placed as the sister toWintonotitan withinSomphospondyli.[4]
In a redescription ofTendaguria and other Tendaguru sauropods, Mannionet al. (2019) assignTendaguria to Turiasauria based on a large phylogenetic analysis where it is recovered as the sister taxon ofMoabosaurus within the Turiasauria, based on shared features in their anterior dorsal vertebrae. The result of the extendedimplied weighting analysis is shown below, with large clades condensed for clarity.[3]
