Open Paleo

Savannasaurus

Poropat et al., 2016 suh-VAN-uh-SOR-us

From English 'savanna', referring to the open grassland/savanna landscape of Queensland, Australia where its fossils were found, combined with Greek 'sauros' meaning 'lizard'.

100.5–89.8 million years ago Cenomanian–Turonian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Savannasaurus is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Winton Formation of Queensland, Australia. It contains one species, Savannasaurus elliottorum, named in 2016 by Stephen Poropat and colleagues. The holotype and only known specimen, originally nicknamed "Wade", is the most complete specimen of an Australian sauropod, and is held at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs museum. Dinosaurs known from contemporary rocks include its close relative Diamantinasaurus and the theropod Australovenator; associated teeth suggest that Australovenator may have fed on the holotype specimen.

Diagnosis

  1. Undulating anterior articular surface of the anterior caudal centra (concave dorsally, convex ventrally)
  2. Anteriormost caudal centra with shallow lateral pneumatic fossae (local autapomorphy within Somphospondyli)
  3. Sternal plate with a straight lateral margin (reversal) and lacking an anteroposteriorly elongate ridge along the anterior part of the ventral surface
  4. Metacarpal IV with an hourglass-shaped distal end; pubis with a ridge extending anteroventrally from the ventral margin of the obturator foramen on the lateral surface
  5. Ischium with the proximal plate's anteroposterior length greater than 40% of the element's overall proximodistal length
  6. Astragalus taller proximodistally than wide mediolaterally or long anteroposteriorly, with mediolateral width and anteroposterior length essentially equal

Species

Savannasaurus elliottorum Poropat et al., 2016

Type species

Named for the Elliott family — David Elliott (who discovered the holotype) and the Elliott family — in recognition of their contributions to Australian paleontology, with the Latin genitive plural '-orum' suffix.

Holotype
AODF 660 , Australian Age of Dinosaurs Fossil Museum of Natural History
Material
One posterior cervical vertebra; several cervical ribs; dorsal vertebrae III-X; fragmentary dorsal ribs; at least four coalesced sacral vertebrae; at least five partial caudal vertebrae; fragmentary scapula; left coracoid; both sternal plates; incomplete humeri; fragmentary ulna; left radius; metacarpals; two manual phalanges; iliac fragments; co-ossified pubes and ischia; left astragalus; right metatarsal III.
Horizon
upper Winton Formation, Cenomanian–Turonian, Late Cretaceous , 100.5–89.8 million years ago
Locality
AODL 82, Ho-Hum Site, Belmont Station, Queensland, Australia

References

  1. Poropat, S. F.; Mannion, P. D.; Upchurch, P.; Hocknull, S. A.; Kear, B. P.; Kundrát, M.; Tischler, T. R.; Sloan, T.; Sinapius, G. H. K.; Elliott, J. A.; Elliott, D. A. (2016). New Australian sauropods shed light on Cretaceous dinosaur palaeobiogeography. Scientific Reports 6(1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/srep34467 poropat2016a
  2. Poropat, S. F.; Mannion, P. D.; Upchurch, P.; Tischler, T. R.; Sloan, T.; Sinapius, G. H. K.; Elliott, J. A.; Elliott, D. A. (2020). Osteology of the wide-hipped titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur Savannasaurus elliottorum from the Upper Cretaceous Winton Formation of Queensland, Australia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 40(3): e1786836. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/02724634.2020.1786836

    Comprehensive osteological description of the holotype AODF 660 with an emended diagnosis; recovers Savannasaurus and Diamantinasaurus as an early-branching titanosaurian clade.

    poropat2020a
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate.

    jones2026b