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long-neck giant
Macrurosaurus
Say it like this: “ma-KROOR-o-SAWR-us”
Macrurosaurus semnus
Macrurosaurus ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Early Cretaceous. Bones have been found in the United Kingdom.
- When
- Early Cretaceous (Albian) · roughly 113.2 to 100.5 million years ago
- Named in
- 1876 · Seeley, H. G.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- 12 m · 39 ft
- Weight
- Not established
- Found in
- the United Kingdom · West Melbury Marly Chalk
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Four legs
- Kind
- long-neck giant · Sauropod
- Family branch
- Titanosauriformes
The story in short
The genus Macrurosaurus dates to 1876, the year H. G. Seeley described it. The name means “large-tailed lizard.”
Fossils referred to Macrurosaurus date to the Early Cretaceous (Albian), roughly 113.2 to 100.5 million years ago. Finds come from the United Kingdom, including the West Melbury Marly Chalk Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.
Published estimates put Macrurosaurus at a length near 12 m.
On the family tree it sits in Titanosauriformes, among the sauropod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Brohisaurus
Brohisaurus kirthari
Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) · roughly 154.8 to 149.2 million years ago
Dinodocus
Dinodocus mackesoni
Early Cretaceous (Aptian · Albian) · roughly 121.4 to 100.5 million years ago
Duriatitan
Duriatitan humerocristatus
Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) · roughly 154.8 to 149.2 million years ago