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Moabosaurus

Moabosaurus

KeyValue
Name Meaning“Moab lizard”
LocationUnited States (Utah)
Time Periodc. 121 million years ago (Early Cretaceous)
Length36 ft (11 m)
Weight10 tons (9,000 kg)
LocomotionQuadruped
DietHerbivore
Described2017 (Britt et al.)
Geological Formation(s)Cedar Mountain
Valid SpeciesMoabosaurus utahensis (type)

Phylogeny: Dinosauria > Saurischia > Sauropodomorpha > Plateosauria > Massopoda > Sauropodiformes > Sauropoda > Gravisauria > Eusauropoda > Turiasauria

Overview: Length estimates for Moabosaurus usually put it at around eleven or twelve meters long, which by sauropod standards isn’t overly impressive, though still enormous by today’s. It possibly grew to be a bit larger, as many of the specimens used to describe the genus appear to come from sub-adults. Regardless, Moabosaurus would’ve been safe from most predators when fully grown, excluding the largest of theropods. Large-bodied sauropods required a lot of food while growing, which in the case of this dinosaur probably took the form of conifers, ferns or even cycads. Moabosaurus had fairly robust teeth, which implies a diet of mostly tougher plants, though we can’t be sure. Its neck, while elongated, was not as long as those of some other sauropods, so it may’ve specialized at browsing mid-level vegetation. Some sauropods are known to have lived in groups for at least part of their lives, which may’ve been the case with this animal.

Described as a genus in 2017, Moabosaurus takes its generic name from the town of Moab, today located in the state of Utah. All known fossils of the animal come from the sediments of the Cedar Mountain Formation, which covers a wide span of time from the Early Cretaceous to just after the start of the Late Cretaceous. Moabosaurus was originally classified as a macronarian sauropod, or in other words as a relative of Camarasaurus and more distantly of Brachiosaurus. Many skeletal reconstructions of it draw heavily from the appearance of the former. Most now agree that it was a member of the more basal clade Turiasauria, which saw their greatest success during the Late Jurassic and into the early part of the Cretaceous. They’re known for their heart-shaped teeth and rather unusual vertebrae, as well as many superficial traits they shared in common with various macronarians (though they weren’t macronarians themselves). Mierasaurus, another turiasaur, is also known from Cedar Mountain, though it was unearthed from somewhat older rock layers.