Brohisaurus

Brohisaurus is an informally named genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic, based on largely indeterminate fragments of some ribs, vertebrae, and limb bones. The type and only species, B. kirthari, was described by M. Sadiq Malkani in 2003. The genus name means "Brohi lizard" and refers to the Brohi people who live in the area where it was found. The species name refers to the Kirthar Mountains. The fossils were discovered in the lowest portion of the Kimmeridgian Sembar Formation from the Kirthar foldbelt in Pakistan.[1]

Description

Brohisaurus, like all sauropod dinosaurs, would have been a large-bodied, long-necked herbivore. Its femur was only 12 cm across.[1] The 15 to 20 meter long titanosauriform Phuwiangosaurus, by contrast, had a femur 20 cm in diameter.[2]

Classification

Brohisaurus was originally described as a titanosaur.[1] Malkani suggested it was similar to the early African titanosaurs Tornieria and "Gigantosaurus" dixeyi, which are respectively now known as Janenschia and Malawisaurus.[3][4] He argued that this provided evidence for a biogeographic link between the Indian subcontinent and Africa. However, the phylogenetic position of Brohisaurus is not clear. None of the proposed traits uniting it to Titanosauria are definitive synapomorphies of that clade.[5] It does appear to possess at least two synapomorphies of the Titanosauriformes: pneumatic cavities in its thoracic ribs and femora with elliptical cross sections.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Malkani, M. S. (2003). "First Jurassic dinosaur fossils found from Kirthar range, Khuzdar District, Balochistan, Pakistan" (PDF). Geological Bulletin of the University of Peshawar. 36: 73–83.
  2. ↑ Martin, V.; Suteethorn, V.; Buffetaut, E. (1999). "Description of the type and referred material of Phuwiangosaurus sirindhornae Martin, Buffetaut and Suteethorn, 1994, a sauropod from the Lower Cretaceous of Thailand". Oryctos. 2: 39–91.
  3. ↑ Wild, R. (1991). "Janenschia n. g. robusta (E. Fraas 1908) pro Tornieria robusta (E. Fraas 1908) (Reptilia, Saurischia, Sauropodomorpha)". Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde, Serie B (Geologie und Paläontologie). 173: 1–4. ISSN 0341-0153.
  4. ↑ Jacobs, L. L.; Winkler, D. A.; Downs, W. R.; Gomani, E. M. (1993). "New material of an Early Cretaceous titanosaurid sauropod dinosaur from Malawi" (PDF). Palaeontology. 36 (3): 523–534.
  5. ↑ Mannion, Philip D.; Upchurch, Paul; Barnes, Rosie N.; Mateus, Octávio (2013). "Osteology of the Late Jurassic Portuguese sauropod dinosaur Lusotitan atalaiensis (Macronaria) and the evolutionary history of basal titanosauriforms" (PDF). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 168: 98–206. doi:10.1111/zoj.12029.
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