Losillasaurus

Losillasaurus is a large sauropod discovered near the village of Losilla in Valencia, Spain. Dating to the very end of the Jurassic period, it belongs to the Turiasauria, an endemic European lineage of non-neosauropod eusauropods. Losillasaurus was originally estimated to be a colossal animal, but recent assessments place its length at around twenty metres and its mass around fifteen to twenty-four tonnes. Like other turiasaurs, it had distinctive heart-shaped tooth crowns and characteristic neural spines along its vertebrae. It lived on a mosaic of coastal plains and forested islands that made up Late Jurassic southern Europe, feeding on tough vegetation using its specialised, interlocking dentition. Losillasaurus illustrates that giant sauropods flourished in Europe without belonging to the more familiar diplodocoid or macronarian groups.

A member of Turiasauria, a unique lineage of giant non-neosauropods that thrived in the European archipelago.

Where and when

Losillasaurus lived in the Late Jurassic, from 150 to 145 million years ago (Tithonian age). Its remains come from Spain, in the Villar del Arzobispo Formation.

The numbers

Length 20 m (estimates run from 18 to 22 m). Mass about 19 t. Hip height about 4 m. That is 11.8 human-lengths, or 1.79 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.

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