Shingopana

Phylogeny: Dinosauria > Saurischia > Sauropodomorpha > Plateosauria > Massopoda > Sauropodiformes > Sauropoda > Gravisauria > Eusauropoda > Neosauropoda > Macronaria > Titanosauriformes > Somphospondyli > Titanosauria > Lithostrotia > Aeolosaurini

Overview: Among the nations of East Africa, Tanzania is the best known for dinosaur fossils. Most of those fossils, however, have been found in the Late Jurassic-aged Tendaguru Formation, which contained genera like Kentrosaurus and Giraffatitan. Shingopana, however, lived towards the end of the following period, in the Late Cretaceous, about seventy-two million years ago. These fossils come from the Galula Formation, located in the western part of the country. Other sauropods are known from the Galula, including Mnyamawamtuka and Rukwatitan, the latter of which probably coexisted with Shingopana itself. Known fossils of Shingopana include its lower jaw, limb bones, neck vertebrae, and a few ribs. First discovered in the early 2000’s, the genus would be established in 2017. Its generic name, meaning “wide neck”, is directly derived from Swahili.

In the case of Shingopana, “wide neck” refers to its proportionately enlarged neck vertebrae, which likely made its neck look fairly robust. Shingopana was rather small for a sauropod, however, with a length of about eight meters. This isn’t unheard of, though in its case, this may’ve been due to the presence of other sauropods in its environment, namely Rukwatitan. Rukwatitan was larger, which meant it would’ve been feeding from higher branches. Shingopana avoided competition by feeding on low to mid-level vegetation. This would’ve made it more vulnerable to predation, however. It’s uncertain as to what specific predatory theropods were present in the Galula environment, but an assortment of teeth and fragmentary remains of one are known from the formation. Phylogenetic studies place Shingopana within the Titanosauria, specifically in the clade Aeolosaurini.