Titanosaurus – Some Facts and Figures
Titanosaurus is a member of armored sauropod dinosaurs who lived 83 to 65 million years ago, termed as the late Cretaceous period. What’s odd is that although paleontologists have till now discovered plenty of titanosaurs, this dinosaur is still known for its limited fossil remains. Moreover, to date, no one has able to locate its skull. All these factors revolving around Titanosaurus make people proceed forward towards buying Titanosaur teeth for sale. Titanosaur fossils have been found on all of the existing continents except Antarctica and include some 40 species along with it. This group is purposely known for being among the largest terrestrial animal known, some even approaching the size of modern existing whales.
But, despite the similarities in the morphology of bones of described species of Titanosaurus, only two species are currently classified as valid Titanosaurus species. At the same time, the rest have been assigned to other genera of dinosaurs.
More Significant Information on Titanosaurus:
Titanosaurus was discovered early in dinosaur history, identified in 1877 by paleontologist Richard Lydekker, based on scattered bones unearthed in India. Titanosaurus was known to be able to reach heights of around 30 – 40 feet and weigh approximately 13 tons. The name “Titanosaurus” means titanic lizard, primarily due to its large body size typical for this specific group of dinosaurs.
The breed had a small head, long neck, a much broader chest with a massive body, stocky limbs, and a long whip-like tail. The front legs were much shorter than the hind legs. Upon research, it was found that unlike most species of the sauropods, who had hollow chambers in the neck vertebrae, Titanosaurus had solid vertebrae, which became a basis for identifying Titanosaurus further. Their spine was more flexible when compared to other species and was probably more agile than other species of giant herbivorous dinosaurs. But despite their vast size, the eggs of Titanosaurus were small. They were laid in the nests in the ground and concealed with the layer of vegetation and dirt on the surface.
Lately, Titanosaurus has been generating headlines because of the discovery of bigger and bigger specimens in South America. This breed of dinosaur had lived and traveled in herds so as to ensure protection against predators. Titanosaurus was adequately covered with rows of bony plates on the dorsal side of the body with the primary purpose of protecting them from deadly predators.
The Titanosaurus was the last significant group of sauropods before the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction level. They were considered the dominant herbivores of their time. The evidence of their fossils suggests that they replaced the other sauropods like the diplodocids and the brachiosaurids that died out between the Upper Jurassic and the mid-Cretaceous.
Author’s Bio – The author is an online blogger and writes this article that focuses on the details of Titanosaurus.