Tendaguria
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''Tendaguria'' ( ; meaning "the
Tendaguru The Tendaguru Formation, or Tendaguru Beds are a highly fossiliferous formation and Lagerstätte located in the Lindi Region of southeastern Tanzania. The formation represents the oldest sedimentary unit of the Mandawa Basin, overlying Neoprote ...
one") is a
genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of herbivorous
sauropod Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their b ...
dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...
from the Late
Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...
of
Lindi Region Lindi Region (''Mkoa wa Lindi'' in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative Regions of Tanzania, regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Sr ...
,
Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
.


Discovery and naming

In 1911, German geologist
Wilhelm Bornhardt Friedrich Wilhelm Conrad Eduard Bornhardt (20 April 1864 Braunschweig - 2 December 1946 Goslar) was a German geologist, engineer and explorer, and was Director of the Berlin College of Mines (Bergakademie) from 1907 to 1916. He explored and set out ...
at Nambango in
German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; ) was a German colonial empire, German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Portugu ...
discovered two sauropod vertebrae, fifteen kilometers (nine miles) southeast of Tendaguru Hill. These were described by
Werner Janensch Werner Ernst Martin Janensch (11 November 1878 – 20 October 1969) was a German paleontologist and geologist. Biography Janensch was born at Herzberg (Elster). In addition to Friedrich von Huene, Janensch was probably Germany's most ...
in 1929, but not named.Janensch, W., 1929, "Material und Formengehalt der Sauropoden in der Ausbeute der Tendaguru-Expedition", ''Palaeontographica (Suppl. 7)'' 2: 1-34 The finds were formally named by José Fernando Bonaparte, Wolf-Dieter Heinrich and Rupert Wild in 2000. The
type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
is ''Tendaguria tanzaniensis'' ( ). The generic name refers to the Tendaguru, the area of the great German palaeontological expeditions between 1909 and 1912. The
specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
was "after Tanzania, the country where the holotype was collected".J.F. Bonaparte, W.-D. Heinrich, and R. Wild, 2000, "Review of ''Janenschia'' Wild, with the description of a new sauropod from the Tendaguru beds of Tanzania and a discussion on the systematic value of procoelous caudal vertebrae in the Sauropoda", ''Palaeontographica Abteilung A'' 256(1-3): 25-76 The territory of present Tanzania largely coincides with that of the former German East Africa. The type specimen consists of two
syntype In biological nomenclature, a syntype is any one of two or more biological types that is listed in a description of a taxon where no holotype was designated. Precise definitions of this and related terms for types have been established as part o ...
s, MB.R.2092.1 (NB4) and MB.R.2092.2 (NB5), probably uncovered in the Upper Saurian Bed (''Obere Dinosauriermergel''), Tendaguru Series, dating from the
Tithonian In the geological timescale, the Tithonian is the latest age (geology), age of the Late Jurassic Epoch and the uppermost stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 149.2 ±0.7 annum, Ma and 143.1 ±0.6 (mi ...
stage of the Late Jurassic. The specimens are two anterior dorsal vertebrae, part of the collection of the Berlin's Natural History Museum. They probably belong to the same individual, having been found at a short distance from each other. Cervical vertebra MB.R.2091.31 (G45) was also referred to ''Tendaguria'', also from the Upper Saurian Bed, found 600 meters south of Tendaguru Hill at Quarry G.


Description

''Tendaguria'' was a large sauropod from the Tendaguru fossil locality. Its length is estimated at twenty meters (sixty-six feet). It can be distinguished from other sauropods by the presence of two distinct cavities on the diapophyses of the anterior dorsal vertebrae. One is located behind and lateral to the
prezygapophysis The articular process or zygapophysis ( + apophysis) of a vertebra is a projection of the vertebra that serves the purpose of fitting with an adjacent vertebra. The actual region of contact is called the ''articular facet''.Moore, Keith L. et al. ...
, on the anterior section of the diapophysis, while the other is behind the prezygapophyses. Additionally, it is unique from other
turiasaurs Turiasauria is an unranked clade of eusauropod dinosaurs known from Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous deposits in Europe, North America, and Africa. Description Turiasauria was originally erected by Royo-Torres et al. (2006) to include '' Turi ...
in that it has a defined ridge in the middle of the anteriormost dorsal spines.


Classification

Due to its unique
morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...
, ''Tendaguria'' defied classification in the original description, where the authors placed it as
Sauropoda Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from ''wikt:sauro-, sauro-'' + ''wikt:-pod, -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative t ...
''
incertae sedis or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...
'', though also naming a separate Tendaguriidae. It shows a mix of basal and derived traits, indicating a position outside, respectively inside,
Neosauropoda Neosauropoda is a clade within Dinosauria, coined in 1986 by Argentina, Argentine paleontologist José Bonaparte and currently described as ''Saltasaurus loricatus'', ''Diplodocus longus'', and all animals directly descended from their most recent ...
. A cervical vertebra referred to ''Tendaguria'' because of a similar low spine shows some similarities to ''
Camarasaurus ''Camarasaurus'' ( ) is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic period. Its fossil remains have been found in the Morrison Formation, dating to the Kimmeridgian and Tithonian ages of the Jurassic, betwe ...
''. In 2014 it was included in a
cladogram A cladogram (from Greek language, Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an Phylogenetic tree, evolutionary tree because it does not s ...
generated in the redescription of '' Diamantinasaurus'', where it was placed as the sister to ''
Wintonotitan ''Wintonotitan'' (meaning " Winton titan") is a genus of titanosauriform dinosaur from Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous)-age Winton Formation of Australia. It is known from partial postcranial remains. Description and history Fossils that are no ...
'' within
Somphospondyli Somphospondyli is an extinct clade of titanosauriformes, titanosauriform sauropods that lived from the Late Jurassic until the end of the Late Cretaceous, comprising all titanosauriforms more closely related to Titanosauria proper than Brachiosau ...
. In a redescription of ''Tendaguria'' and other Tendaguru sauropods, Mannion ''et al.'' (2019) assign ''Tendaguria'' to Turiasauria based on a large phylogenetic analysis where it is recovered as the sister taxon of ''Moabosaurus'' within the Turiasauria, based on shared features in their anterior dorsal vertebrae. The result of the extended implied weighting analysis is shown below, with large clades condensed for clarity.


References


External links


Dinosauria Translation and Pronunciation Guide
{{Taxonbar, from=Q278093 Turiasauria Dinosaur genera Kimmeridgian dinosaurs Tendaguru Formation Taxa named by José Bonaparte Fossil taxa described in 2000 Dinosaurs of Tanzania