by Mary Caperton Morton Friday, October 13, 2017
With their massive size, long necks and whip-like tails, the sauropods are one of the most recognizable dinosaur groups. They grew as large as 100 metric tons, and it seems their huge frames were an effective adaptation: The sauropods were among the most diverse dinosaur groups, with more than 15 species known from North America alone. That list is now one species longer, with the identification of a new species based on a specimen found in Wyoming in 1995.
The species, dubbed Galeamopus pabsti, is described in a new study in PeerJ by paleontologists Emanuel Tschopp and Octávio Mateus, of the University of Turin in Italy and the Nova University of Lisbon in Portugal, respectively. G. pabsti was similar in size and shape to Diplodocus, but with even more massive legs and a higher, more triangular neck. The skeleton is currently on display at the Aathal Dinosaur Museum in Switzerland.
© 2008-2021. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of any of the contents of this service without the expressed written permission of the American Geosciences Institute is expressly prohibited. Click here for all copyright requests.