Alamosaurus

MAIN INFORMATION: Alamosaurus (/ˌæləmoʊˈsɔːrəs/;[1] meaning "Ojo Alamo lizard") is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaurs containing a single known species, Alamosaurus sanjuanensis, from the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous period in what is now southwestern North America. It is the only known titanosaur to have inhabited North America after the nearly 30-million year absence of sauropods from the North American fossil record and probably represents an immigrant from South America.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: Alamosaurus had a normal quadruple base of a Sauropod Titanosaurid, having a scaly-skin, having a horizontal-like positioned long neck, a round head, elephant-like feet, and a long tail to balance itself. Like many other Titanosaurids, Alamosaurus didn't bear any great or significant details, and was mostly known to be a "bald" dinosaur. Alamosaurus had many small spots of bony armor on its back, which were formerly large when being young; in order to survive and grow.

APPEARANCE: Alamosaurus would be mainly colored a dull color of gray on its skin, similar to Alamosaurus. The only sexual dimorphism in appearance of Alamosaurus is that males had a slightly darker stripe of gray at the base of its head, while females lacked those stripes.

PALEONTOLOGY: Alamosaurus was a gigantic quadrupedal herbivore with a long neck, the long tail, the relatively long limbs and the body partly covered with bony armor. Alamosaurus was, in any case, an advanced and derived member of the group Titanosauria, but its relationships within that group are far from certain. The issue is further complicated by some researchers rejecting the name Titanosauridae and replacing it with Saltasauridae. One major analysis unites Alamosaurus with Opisthocoelicaudia in the subgroup Opisthocoelicaudiinae of Saltasauridae.[28] A major competing analysis finds Alamosaurus as a sister taxon to Pellegrinisaurus, with both genera located just outside Saltasauridae.[29] Studies finding a close relationship between Alamosaurus and Opisthocoelicaudia did not include Pellegrinisaurus in their analyses.[30] Other scientists have also noted particular similarities with the saltasaurid Neuquensaurus and the Brazilian Trigonosaurus (the "Peiropolis titanosaur"), which is used in many cladistic and morphologic analyses of titanosaurians.

Skeletal elements of Alamosaurus are among the most common Late Cretaceous dinosaur fossils found in the United States Southwest and are now used to define the fauna of that time and place, known as the "Alamosaurus fauna". In the south of Late Cretaceous North America, the transition from the Edmontonian to the Lancian faunal stages is even more dramatic than it was in the north. Thomas M. Lehman describes it as "the abrupt reemergence of a fauna with a superficially 'Jurassic' aspect. These faunas are dominated by Alamosaurus and feature abundant Quetzalcoatlus in Texas. The Alamosaurus-Quetzalcoatlus association probably represent semi-arid inland plains.[35] Fossils of Alamosaurus unearthed in the Evanston Formation in Wyoming indicate it shared its environment with Triceratops.

Though no skull has ever been found, rod-shaped teeth have been found with Alamosaurus skeletons and probably belonged to this dinosaur.[3][13] The vertebrae from the middle part of its tail had elongated centra.[14] Alamosaurus had vertebral lateral fossae that resembled shallow depressions.[14] Fossae that similarly resemble shallow depressions are known from Saltasaurus, Malawisaurus, Aeolosaurus, and Gondwanatitan.[14] Venenosaurus also had depression-like fossae, but its "depressions" penetrated deeper into the vertebrae, were divided into two chambers, and extend farther into the vertebral columns.[14] Alamosaurus had more robust radii than Venenosaurus

SETTINGS: Javeline Formation, USA

SIZE: Alamosaurus measures over 30.4 meters (or 100 feet) long on average, and weighing about 176370 pounds (80 tons) at the highest estimate, making Alamosaurus the largest dinosaur to roam North America.