Dongyangosaurus

Dongyangosaurus was a mid-sized sauropod dinosaur that lived in southeastern China during the early Late Cretaceous. Its fossilised remains were uncovered in 2007 near Dongyang City in Zhejiang Province and consist of articulated dorsal vertebrae, a complete sacrum, anterior caudal vertebrae, and pelvic elements. Classified within Titanosauria, Dongyangosaurus possessed distinctive deep pleurocoels and specific structural fusions within its sacrum and hip bones. It lived in a warm, seasonally wet floodplain environment where sauropods and theropods laid extensive clutches of eggs. Dongyangosaurus reached an estimated twelve to fifteen metres in total length, representing a relatively modest size among titanosaurs. Its discovery enhanced palaeontological understanding of the diversity and distribution of sauropod faunas in Cretaceous eastern Asia.

Its pelvis displays unique fused features in the ilium and sacrum characteristic of derived Asian somphospondylians.

Where and when

Dongyangosaurus lived in the Late Cretaceous, from 99.6 to 89.8 million years ago (Cenomanian-Turonian age). Its remains come from China, in the Fangyan Formation.

The numbers

Length 15 m (estimates run from 13 to 16 m). Mass about 9.8 t. Hip height about 3 m. That is 8.5 human-lengths, or 1.29 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, first ma, last ma, hip height.

Compare Dongyangosaurus with a bus Place on the timeline