Alamosaurus Temporal range: Upper Cretaceous
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Restored skeletons of Alamosaurus and Tyrannosaurus at Perot Museum | |
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Genus: | Alamosaurus
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Alamosaurus was a titanosaur, a gigantic plant-eating dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous period, about 73 million to 65 million years ago.
Alamosaurus was a long-necked, whip-tailed dinosaur. It was about 69 feet (21 m) long and weighed perhaps 33 tons (30000 kg). Fossils have been found in New Mexico, Texas, and Utah. Fossils include fragmentary skeletons (and no skulls).
Skeletal elements of Alamosaurus are among the most common Late Cretaceous dinosaur fossils found in the American Southwest and are now used to define the fauna of that time and place. There was a climate change in this area, it became drier, and this caused changes in the fauna. Thomas M. Lehman describes it as "the abrupt reemergence of a fauna with a superficially 'Jurassic' aspect".[1] These faunas are dominated by Alamosaurus and feature abundant Quetzalcoatlus in Texas.[1] The Alamosaurus – Quetzalcoatlus association probably represent semi-arid inland plains.[1]p201