Isisaurus

Isisaurus is a distinctive titanosaur sauropod from the latest Cretaceous beds of the Lameta Formation in central India. Named in honour of the Indian Statistical Institute, it lived alongside theropods like Rajasaurus shortly before the end-Cretaceous extinction. It reached around fifteen to eighteen metres in length and weighed roughly fourteen tonnes, exhibiting an unusually stocky build with very robust forelimbs and a vertically directed neck. Coprolites attributed to this animal have yielded preserved plant tissues, including remnants of flowering trees, providing direct evidence of its herbivorous diet. Isisaurus was initially assigned to the genus Titanosaurus before thorough anatomical reassessment revealed unique diagnostic specialisations in its vertebrae and limbs, confirming its status as a distinct and highly unusual lineage of Late Cretaceous Indian sauropods.

Fossilised dung associated with Isisaurus indicates that it fed directly on the leaves and fungus of angiosperm trees.

Where and when

Isisaurus lived in the Late Cretaceous, from 72.1 to 66 million years ago (Maastrichtian age). Its remains come from India, in the Lameta Formation.

The numbers

Length 17 m (estimates run from 15 to 18 m). Mass about 13 t. Hip height about 4 m. That is 9.7 human-lengths, or 1.47 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.

Compare Isisaurus with a bus Place on the timeline