Brohisaurus
| Brohisaurus Temporal range: Late Jurassic,
| |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Genus: | †Brohisaurus Malkani, 2003 |
| Species: | †B. kirthari
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Brohisaurus kirthari Malkani, 2003
| |
Brohisaurus is a problematic genus of dubious dinosaurs known from the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian-aged) Sembar Formation of Pakistan. The type species is B. kirthari.
Discovery and naming
[edit]The Brohisaurus holotype, MSM-86-K to 94-K, 96-K to 98-K, 101-K to 105-K, largely consisting of indeterminate fragments of some ribs, vertebrae, and limb bones, was discovered in the Sembar Formation of Pakistan. In 2003 Muhammad Sadiq Malkani named and described Brohisaurus kirthari as a new genus and species of titanosaurian sauropods.[1]
The genus name means "Brohi lizard" and refers to the Brohi people who live in the area where it was found. The species name refers to the Kirthar Mountains.[1]
Description and classification
[edit]If Brohisaurus is a sauropod, as originally identified, it would have been a large-bodied, long-necked herbivore. Its femur was 12 centimetres (4.7 in) in diameter.[1] The femur of the 15–20 metres (49–66 ft)-long titanosauriform Phuwiangosaurus, by contrast, is 20 centimetres (7.9 in) in diameter.[2]
Brohisaurus was originally described as a titanosaur.[1] Malkani suggested it was similar to the early African titanosaur Malawisaurus, arguing that this provided evidence for a biogeographic link between the Indian subcontinent and Africa. However, the phylogenetic position of Brohisaurus is far from clear. None of the proposed traits uniting it to Titanosauria are definitive synapomorphies of that clade, and none of the fossil material is reliably diagnostic, rendering it a dubious taxon. In 2013, Mannion et al. identified two possible synapomorphies of the Titanosauriformes in the type material: pneumatic cavities in its thoracic ribs and femora with elliptical cross sections.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Malkani, M. S. (2003). "First Jurassic dinosaur fossils found from Kirthar range, Khuzdar District, Balochistan, Pakistan" (PDF). Geological Bulletin of the University of Peshawar. 36: 73–83.
- ^ Martin, V.; Suteethorn, V.; Buffetaut, E. (1999). "Description of the type and referred material of Phuwiangosaurus sirindhornae Martin, Buffetaut and Suteethorn, 1994, a sauropod from the Lower Cretaceous of Thailand". Oryctos. 2: 39–91.
- ^ Mannion, Philip D.; Upchurch, Paul; Barnes, Rosie N.; Mateus, Octávio (2013). "Osteology of the Late Jurassic Portuguese sauropod dinosaur Lusotitan atalaiensis (Macronaria) and the evolutionary history of basal titanosauriforms" (PDF). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 168: 98–206. doi:10.1111/zoj.12029.
