Cretaceous Sauropods from the Sahara and the Uneven Rate of Skeletal Evolution Among Dinosaurs

1999/11/12 by Paul C. Sereno, Allison L. Beck, Didier B. Dutheil +8 · 276 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Ichthyology and Marine Biology #Cretaceous #Sauropoda #Aptian #Paleontology #Genus #Ecological succession #Geology #Geography #Biology #Zoology #Ecology

paper · doi:10.1126/science.286.5443.1342

published in Science 286(5443), 1342-1347 (American Association for the Advancement of Science)

openalex publication_date 1999/11/12 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23

Abstract

Lower Cretaceous fossils from central Niger document the succession of sauropod dinosaurs on Africa as it drifted into geographic isolation. A new broad-toothed genus of Neocomian age ( approximately 135 million years ago) shows few of the specializations of other Cretaceous sauropods. A new small-bodied sauropod of Aptian-Albian age ( approximately 110 million years ago), in contrast, reveals the highly modified cranial form of rebbachisaurid diplodocoids. Rates of skeletal change in sauropods and other major groups of dinosaurs are estimated quantitatively and shown to be highly variable.

Citations

• The phylogenetic position of the Tyrannosauridae: implications for theropod systematics
• The Cretaceous deposits of the Iullemmeden Basin of Niger, central West Africa
• Neck Posture and Feeding Habits of Two Jurassic Sauropod Dinosaurs
• The Evolution of Dinosaurs
• AMNIOTE PHYLOGENY AND THE IMPORTANCE OF FOSSILS
• THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF DINOSAURS
• A Long-Snouted Predatory Dinosaur from Africa and the Evolution of Spinosaurids

Cited by

• Basal Abelisaurid and Carcharodontosaurid Theropods from the Lower Cretaceous Elrhaz Formation of Niger
• Almost all known sauropod necks are incomplete and distorted
• Nuchal ligament reconstructions in diplodocid sauropods support horizontal neck feeding postures
• New information on a juvenile sauropod specimen from the Morrison Formation and the reassessment of its systematic position
• The evolution of vertebral pneumaticity in sauropod dinosaurs
• A re-evaluation ofBrachiosaurus altithoraxRiggs 1903 (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) and its generic separation fromGiraffatitan brancai(Janensch 1914)
• The Illusory Evidence for Asian Brachiosauridae: New Material ofErketu ellisoniand a Phylogenetic Reappraisal of Basal Titanosauriformes
• The real Bigfoot: a pes from Wyoming, USA is the largest sauropod pes ever reported and the northern-most occurrence of brachiosaurids in the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation
• Suchomimus [wikipedia]