Rhoetosaurus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Rhoetosaurus |
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Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Gravisauria |
| Genus: | †Rhoetosaurus Longman, 1926 |
| Type species | |
| †Rhoetosaurus brownei Longman, 1926
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Rhoetosaurus (say "Ree-toh-SAWR-us") was a huge plant-eating dinosaur. Its name means "Rhoetos lizard," named after Rhoetus, a giant from ancient Greek mythology. This dinosaur lived in Australia during the Jurassic period, about 162 million years ago. It was a type of sauropod, known for their long necks and tails. Rhoetosaurus was about 15 meters (50 feet) long. It weighed around 9,000 kilograms (20,000 pounds)! That's like two big elephants!
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Discovery of Rhoetosaurus
In 1924, a self-taught scientist named Albert Heber Longman heard about a large fossil skeleton. It was found in rocks at Durham Downs Station near Roma, Australia. The manager of the station, Arthur Browne, sent some bone pieces to Longman. Because of his help, the dinosaur was named brownei after him.
The first bones found were 22 tail bones. Sixteen of these were still connected together. There were also some pieces of the back legs. Soon after Longman announced the discovery, he visited the station. He arranged for more bones to be sent to the Queensland Museum.
More Bones Found
More bones arrived at the museum. These included bones from the chest area and ribs. There were also more tail bones, and parts of the leg and hip. In 1975, scientists Mary Wade and Alan Bartholomai found even more material. Later, other scientists like Dr. Tom Rich and Dr. Anne Warren also helped.
By 2012, scientists had prepared many bones. This included 40 vertebrae (backbones). They also had five partial ribs and part of the hip. They found bones from the left and right hip, and much of the right back leg. This included the thigh bone (femur), shin bone (tibia), and foot bones. Many more bones are still waiting to be cleaned from the rock.
Rhoetosaurus is one of the best-known sauropods found in Australia. It is also very important for understanding dinosaurs from the Jurassic period in Gondwana.
How Rhoetosaurus is Related to Other Dinosaurs
When Rhoetosaurus was first studied, scientists thought it was a very old type of sauropod. For a long time, it was grouped with dinosaurs like Cetiosaurus. Later, some people compared it to Shunosaurus. This was because they lived around the same time. However, there wasn't strong proof for this idea.
Shunosaurus had a club on its tail. Because of the possible link, some thought Rhoetosaurus might have had one too. But this is not certain. The shape of its nearly complete foot shows it was an early type of sauropod. It was not as advanced as some later sauropods. More study is needed to understand exactly where Rhoetosaurus fits in the dinosaur family tree.
See also
In Spanish: Rhoetosaurus brownei para niños
