Malawisaurus

Malawisaurus Temporal range: Aptian PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
250px
Display at the Royal Ontario Museum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	†Sauropodomorpha
Clade:	†Neosauropoda
Clade:	†Titanosauria
Clade:	†Lithostrotia
Genus:	†Malawisaurus Jacobs et al., 1993
Species:	†M. dixeyi (Haughton, 1928) [originally Gigantosaurus, preoccupied]
Binomial name
Malawisaurus dixeyi
Synonyms
Gigantosaurus dixeyi Haughton, 1928 (preoccupied) Tornieria dixeyi (Haughton, 1928) Janenschia dixeyi (Haughton, 1928)

Malawisaurus (meaning "Malawi lizard") was a genus of sauropod dinosaur (specifically a titanosaurid). It lived in what is now Africa, specifically Malawi, during the Aptian age of the Early Cretaceous Period. It is one of the few titanosaurs for which skull material has been found.

A reconstruction of the head

It was named by Louis L. Jacobs and colleague, 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). They are currently recognised as separate but related forms of titanosaur.

Relatively small by sauropod standards, Malawisaurus reached lengths of around 16 metres (52 ft). 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. Malawisaurus had vertebral lateral fossae that resembled shallow depressions. Fossae that similarly resemble shallow depressions are known from Saltasaurus, Alamosaurus, Aeolosaurus, and Gondwanatitan. Venenosaurus also had depression-like fossae, but its "depressions" penetrated deeper into the vertebrae, were divided into two chambers, and extend farther into the vertebral columns.

References

• 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.

External links

• page on Malawisaurus from DinoDictionary.
• Jacobs, L.L., Winkler, D.A., and Downs, W.R., and Gomani, E.M. 1993. New material of an Early Cretaceous titanosaurid sauropod dinosaur from Malawi. Palaeontology, 36:523-534.
• Palaeontologica-Electronica - Sauropod Dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous of Malawi, Africa
• DinoData page on Malawisaurus
• Research Casting International - Malawisaurus dixeyi