Jainosaurus

Hunt et al., 1994 JIEN-o-SAWR-us

Named after Indian paleontologist Sohan Lal Jain, who made significant contributions to the study of Indian dinosaurs, combined with Greek sauros (lizard); meaning 'Jain's lizard'

72.2–66.0 million years ago Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous

Late Cretaceous stages

Jainosaurus is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur of India and wider Asia, which lived in the Maastrichtian (approximately 68 million years ago). It is thought to have been about the same size as its contemporary relative Isisaurus, measuring 18 meters (59 ft) long and weighing 15 metric tons (17 short tons). The humerus of the type specimen is 134 centimeters long.

Diagnosis

Flat-sided caudal centra
Larger and more gracile limb bones than Titanosaurus
Longer parietals in braincase and skull

Species

Jainosaurus septentrionalis Hunt et al., 1994

Type species

From Latin 'septentrionalis' meaning 'northern', a reference to the fact that the species was discovered in the Northern Hemisphere, in contrast to the southern origins implied by the genus name Antarctosaurus under which it was first described.

Lectotype: GSI K27/497 , Geological Survey of India
Material: Posterior part of a skull
Horizon: Sauropod Bed Bed, Lameta Formation, Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous , 72.2–66.0 million years ago
Locality: Bara Simla, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India

References

Hunt, A. P.; Lockley, M. G.; Lucas, S. G.; Meyer, C. A. (1994). The global sauropod fossil record. Aspects of Sauropod Paleobiology. GAIA 10: 261-279. hunt1994a
Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.
Source of the hip height estimate.
jones2026b