Malawisaurus

Malawisaurus (meaning "Malawi lizard") was a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur. It lived in what is now Africa, specifically Malawi, and South America, specifically Brazil during the Aptian-Cenomanian ages of the Early-Late Cretaceous Periods. It is one of the few titanosaurs for which skull material has been found.

Malawisaurus
Temporal range: 125–93.9 Ma
Display at the Royal Ontario Museum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Suborder: †Sauropodomorpha
Clade: †Sauropoda
Clade: †Eusauropoda
Clade: †Neosauropoda
Clade: †Macronaria
Clade: †Titanosauria
Clade: †Eutitanosauria
Clade: †Lithostrotia
Genus: †Malawisaurus
Jacobs et al., 1993
Species:
†M. dixeyi
Binomial name
†Malawisaurus dixeyi
(Haughton, 1928) [originally Gigantosaurus, preoccupied]
Synonyms

Discovery
Size comparison

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 (an invalid name for the diplodocid currently known as Tornieria). Haughton considered it closely related to the species G. robustus (later the type species of Janenschia).

Description
A reconstruction of the head

Relatively small by sauropod standards, Malawisaurus reached lengths of about 16 metres (52 ft), and weighed about 10 tonnes (11 short tons).[1] In 2020 it was given a smaller estimation of 11 meters (36 ft) and 2.8 tonnes (3.1 short tons).[2] 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.[3] Malawisaurus had vertebral lateral fossae that resembled shallow depressions.[4] Fossae that similarly resemble shallow depressions are known from Saltasaurus, Alamosaurus, Aeolosaurus, and Gondwanatitan.[4]

Classification

The cladogram below follows Franca et al. (2016), placing Malawisaurus as a basal lithostrotian.[5]

Lithostrotia
 

Malawisaurus

 
 
 

Muyelensaurus

 
 
Nemegtosauridae
 

Nemegtosaurus

 
 
 

Tapuiasaurus

 
 

Rapetosaurus

 
 
 
Saltasauroidea
 

Diamantinasaurus

 
 

Baurutitan

 
 

Isisaurus

 
Saltasauridae
 
 

Alamosaurus

 
 

Opisthocoelicaudia

 
 
 
 

Neuquensaurus

 
 

Saltasaurus

 
 
 
Aeolosaurini
 

Maxakalisaurus

 
 

Panamericansaurus

 
 

Rinconsaurus

 
 
 

Gondwanatitan

 
 
 

Aeolosaurus maximus

 
 
 

Aeolosaurus colhuehuapensis

 
 

Aeolosaurus rionegrinus

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

See also

References
  1. Paul, G.S., 2010, The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, Princeton University Press p. 207
  2. Molina-Pérez & Larramendi (2020). Dinosaur Facts and Figures: The Sauropods and Other Sauropodomorphs. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 264.
  3. "Caudal Vertebrae," Tidwell, Carpenter, and Meyer (2001). Page 145.
  4. "Caudal Vertebrae," Tidwell, Carpenter, and Meyer (2001). Page 147.
  5. França, M.A.G.; Marsola, J.C.d A.; Riff, D.; Hsiou, A.S.; Langer, M.C. (2016). "New lower jaw and teeth referred to Maxakalisaurus topai (Titanosauria: Aeolosaurini) and their implications for the phylogeny of titanosaurid sauropods". PeerJ. 4: e2054. doi:10.7717/peerj.2054. PMC 4906671. PMID 27330853.

Footnotes
  • S. H. Haughton. 1928. On some reptilian remains from the Dinosaur Beds of Nyasaland. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa 16:67-75
  • Paul, Gregory S. (2010) The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs.
  • Tidwell, V., Carpenter, K. & Meyer, S. 2001. New Titanosauriform (Sauropoda) from the Poison Strip Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation (Lower Cretaceous), Utah. In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life. D. H. Tanke & K. Carpenter (eds.). Indiana University Press, Eds. D.H. Tanke & K. Carpenter. Indiana University Press. 139-165.
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