Quaesitosaurus

Quaesitosaurus was a Late Cretaceous titanosaurian sauropod that inhabited what is now southern Mongolia during the Maastrichtian stage. It is known primarily from a partial, well-preserved skull and braincase found in the Barun Goyot Formation. The skull is elongated, low, and slopes downwards toward the front, bearing peg-shaped teeth confined to the anterior portions of the jaws, very similar to its close relative Nemegtosaurus. These pencil-shaped teeth were well adapted for raking soft foliage from branches. Because headless sauropod postcrania from contemporaneous beds are known, it has often been speculated that skulls like that of Quaesitosaurus might belong to sauropods known only from bodies, though no definitive match has been confirmed. Quaesitosaurus was a quadrupedal herbivore measuring around 15 metres in length.

It is known primarily from an exceptionally well-preserved, elongated braincase and skull.

Where and when

Quaesitosaurus lived in the Late Cretaceous, from 72 to 66 million years ago (Maastrichtian age). Its remains come from Mongolia, in the Barun Goyot Formation.

The numbers

Length 15 m (estimates run from 14 to 16 m). Mass about 9.8 t. Hip height about 3.2 m. That is 8.8 human-lengths, or 1.34 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.

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