#sauropoda

[makairodonx]

A Brontosaurus valentine -two Brontosaurus excelsus bonding, male at the left and female at the right

[alphynix]

Diamantinasaurus matildae was a sauropod dinosaur that lived in what is now northeastern Australia during the Late Cretaceous, about 94 million years ago.

It was either part of an early evolutionary branch of the titanosaurs, or at least very closely related to them.

Growing up to around 15m long (~50'), it's represented by multiple specimens of varying ages, including one of the most complete individual necks of any sauropod. Unlike later-diverging titanosaurs it still had thumb claws on its hands, and it's unclear if it had any osteoderm armor.

A patch of preserved skin shows polygonal scales with a rough bumpy surface texture — but based on what's now known from other types of sauropod it probably had a variety of other scale shapes and sizes across different regions of its body.

Recent discoveries of titanosaurian footprints in Mongolia also suggest that the large claws on these sauropods' hind feet were mostly buried in soft tissue, with only the tips visible in life.

Fossilized gut contents in one specimen indicate Diamantinasaurus was a generalist herbivore eating a wide range of plant species, browsing from low to high foliage heights, and swallowing its bites without chewing. This particular individual wasn't fully grown, however, and so it may have been in the process of transitioning from a low-level "juvenile" diet to a higher-level "adult" one.

———

NixIllustration.com | Tumblr | Patreon

References:

Bell, Phil R., et al. "Remarkable soft tissue anatomy recorded in titanosaur (Sauropoda) tracks from the latest Cretaceous of Mongolia." Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 204.3 (2025): zlaf053. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf053

Gallagher, Tess, Jason Poole, and Jason P. Schein. "Evidence of integumentary scale diversity in the late Jurassic sauropod Diplodocus sp. from the Mother’s Day Quarry, Montana." PeerJ 9 (2021): e11202. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.11202

Poropat, Stephen F., et al. "A nearly complete skull of the sauropod dinosaur Diamantinasaurus matildae from the Upper Cretaceous Winton Formation of Australia and implications for the early evolution of titanosaurs." Royal Society Open Science 10.4 (2023): 221618. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.221618

Poropat, Stephen F., et al. "Fossilized gut contents elucidate the feeding habits of sauropod dinosaurs." Current Biology 35.11 (2025): 2597-2613. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.053

Taylor, Michael P. "Almost all known sauropod necks are incomplete and distorted." PeerJ 10 (2022): e12810. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12810

Wikipedia contributors. “Diamantinasaurus” Wikipedia, 30 Oct. 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamantinasaurus

[roygattero]

Ingentia prima

fiber-pen illustration + digital painting

yes, I'm totally thinking I exaggerated the proportions of the tail. But it was fun.

[hasellia]

2026 DrawDinosDaily

Day 76, Marchosauria: Rinconsaurus caudamirus

Decided to try this late into the day, so I didn't do too much research on Rinconsaurus before starting. I wish I did, the Bajo de la Carpa Formation has SUCH a richly preserved biota. Deserving of much more than generic canyon walls! The one time I remember to draw conifers, it's for a mesozoic ecosystem that had freaking grasses and palm trees! I tried to add in some of the earliest flightless bird (that we know of), Patagopteryx deferrariisi.

[blackmagichomehaunt]

Species: Mokele-Mbembe Clade: Sauropoda Diet: Herbivorous Size: 75 ft Habitat: Jungles and Wetlands Threat Level: 5/5 (Highly Lethal) Group Orientation: Solitary Fun Facts:

Mokele-Mbembe is a large sauropod dinosaur that dwells within forested areas and wetlands where they feed upon the low hanging vegetation. This dinosaur is infamous for its aggression as it has been known to attack other animals without being provoked. While they will stomp their feet as a warning, they have on many occasions charged at their victims and crush them underfoot.

One of the most unique traits of the Mokele-Mbembe is their saber teeth. Males have longer teeth that they use to intimidate and spar with rival males, while females use them to protect their nests. Juveniles will stay with their mother for a short time after hatching but will strike out on their own after becoming juveniles.

The first reported sighting of Mokele-Mbembe was in 1776 by a French missionary in the Congo river, who did not actually see the creature itself but rather the footprints it had left behind. It wasn't until Willy Ley's 1941 book "Exotic Zoology" that describes a manuscript from 1913 by German Captain Ludwig Freiherr von Stein zu Lausnitz. Von Stein was stationed in what is now Cameroon to conduct a survey of German colonies. During his time there he heard stories of a local legend called "Mokele-Mbembe", and shared a report that inspired many in the Cryptozoology community ever since to conduct numerous expeditions for the elusive Mokele-Mbembe.

[opabinia--regalis]

ok here's some dinosaur yappery, why i think ornithoscelida is the most parsimonious explanation for numerous aspects of early dinosaur evolution:

phylogeny from crown aves up to the base of archosauria (as i mentioned i no longer regard this placement of lagerpetidae as accurate but that's a minor detail):

[unclefard]

[failedasset]

Pokemon Sauropods!