One of the most common European sauropods of the Jurassic, Cetiosaurus is actually one of the most primitive. In more advanced sauropods the vertebrae are hollow as a weight saving feature, however Cetiosaurus has solid vertebrae which hint at its basal position in the evolution of sauropods. These solid vertebrae are similar to those of advanced whales that have solid vertebrae so that their spines can withstand the crushing pressures associated with very deep water. In a complete contrast to sauropod evolution, the primitive whale forms such as Basilosaurus had hollow vertebrae which are why they are thought to have roamed the upper depths.
Returning back to sauropods, Cetiosaurus seems to have had a distribution that covered most of Western Europe all the way down to North Africa. At sixteen meters long Cetiosaurus was a small to medium sized sauropod, but as a mid-Jurassic genera go it was a giant, with larger sauropod dinosaurs such as Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus not appearing until the very last stages of the Jurassic. Despite the size however, Cetiosaurus could have been potential prey for large mid Jurassic theropods such as Megalosaurus and Dubreuillosaurus.
Cetiosaurus is the type genus of the Cetiosauridae, and currently Cetiosaurus is thought to be related to Patagosaurus and Barapasaurus.
Returning back to sauropods, Cetiosaurus seems to have had a distribution that covered most of Western Europe all the way down to North Africa. At sixteen meters long Cetiosaurus was a small to medium sized sauropod, but as a mid-Jurassic genera go it was a giant, with larger sauropod dinosaurs such as Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus not appearing until the very last stages of the Jurassic. Despite the size however, Cetiosaurus could have been potential prey for large mid Jurassic theropods such as Megalosaurus and Dubreuillosaurus.
Cetiosaurus is the type genus of the Cetiosauridae, and currently Cetiosaurus is thought to be related to Patagosaurus and Barapasaurus.
No comments:
Post a Comment