Malawisaurus


Malawisaurus was a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur. It lived in what is now Africa, specifically Malawi, during the Aptian age of the Early Cretaceous Period. It is one of the few titanosaurs for which skull material has been found.

Discovery

It was named by Louis L. Jacobs and colleagues, Maeve Mercredi Fourie and was originally described in 1928 by Sidney H. Haughton as a species of Gigantosaurus. Haughton considered it closely related to the species G. robustus.

Description

Relatively small by sauropod standards, Malawisaurus reached lengths of about, and weighed about. Like some other titanosaurs, ossicles have been found which are believed to represent dermal scutes that covered the skin.
The vertebrae from the middle part of its tail had elongated centra. Malawisaurus had vertebral lateral fossae that resembled shallow depressions. Fossae that similarly resemble shallow depressions are known from Saltasaurus, Alamosaurus, Aeolosaurus, and Gondwanatitan.

Classification

The cladogram below follows Franca et al., placing Malawisaurus as a basal lithostrotian.

Footnotes