Open Paleo

Spinophorosaurus

Remes et al., 2009 SPIEN-o-for-o-SOR-us

From Latin 'spina' meaning 'spine' or 'thorn', Greek 'phoros' meaning 'bearing' or 'carrying', and Greek 'sauros' meaning 'lizard', referring to its spine-bearing tail clubs.

170.9–165.3 million years ago Bajocian–Bathonian, Middle Jurassic
Middle Jurassic stages

Spinophorosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Niger during the Middle Jurassic period. The first two specimens were excavated in the 2000s by German and Spanish teams under difficult conditions. The skeletons were brought to Europe and digitally replicated, making Spinophorosaurus the first sauropod to have its skeleton 3D printed, and were to be returned to Niger in the future. Together, the two specimens represented most of the skeleton of the genus, and one of the most completely known basal sauropods of its time and place. The first skeleton was made the holotype specimen of the new genus and species Spinophorosaurus nigerensis in 2009; the generic name ("spine-bearing lizard") refers to what was initially thought to be spiked osteoderms, and the specific name (Niger and -ensis) refers to where it was found. A juvenile sauropod from the same area was later assigned to the genus.

Under dispute

Spinophorosaurus is recovered as a basal eusauropod, with Volkheimeria as the sister of Barapasaurus (Holwerda and Pol, 2018) or in a small clade with Bagualia, Patagosaurus and Nebulasaurus (Pol and Gomez, 2022; Gomez and colleagues, 2024). Its describers instead recovered it as the sister taxon of Eusauropoda, just outside the clade (Remes and colleagues, 2009).

Diagnosis

  1. Small pineal foramen opening dorsally between contralateral frontals, not parietals
  2. Laterally oriented basal tubera
  3. U-shaped recess between centrum and interpostzygapophyseal lamina in lateral view of cervical vertebrae
  4. Apex of proximal and middle caudal neural spines saddle-shaped
  5. Distal chevrons transformed into overlapping rod-like horizontal elements with cranial and caudal projections contacting at vertebral centra midpoint
  6. Kidney-shaped coracoid
  7. Large foramen on femur shaft caudal side, lateral to fourth trochanter

Species

Spinophorosaurus nigerensis Remes et al., 2009

Type species

Named for Niger, the West African country where the fossils were discovered.

Holotype
GCP-CV-4229, NMB-1699-R , Museo Paleontológico de Elche
Material
Braincase, postorbital, squamosal, quadrate, pterygoid, surangular, and a nearly complete postcranial skeleton of a single individual, lacking the sternum, antebrachium, manus, and pes
Horizon
Irhazer Group, Bajocian–Bathonian, Middle Jurassic , 170.9–165.3 million years ago
Locality
north of the Rural Community of Aderbissinat, about 30 km north of the Falaise de Tiguidit, Agadez, Niger

Notable specimens

  • GCP-CV-BB-15

    Museo Paleontológico de Elche ontogeny

    Referred small sauropod skeleton found meters from the two Spinophorosaurus type specimens, preserving 14 vertebrae including all neck vertebrae. Its centra are 20% smaller with open neurocentral sutures, marking a juvenile most likely of Spinophorosaurus.

    Páramo & Ortega (2012)

References

  1. Páramo, A.; Ortega, F. (2012). A probable juvenile Spinophorosaurus nigerensis (Sauropoda) from the Middle Jurassic of Niger. 10th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Vertebrate Palaeontologists, Teruel. páramo2012a
  2. Remes, K.; Ortega, F.; Fierro, I.; Joger, U.; Kosma, R.; Marín Ferrer, J. M.; Ide, O. A.; Maga, A. (2009). A New Basal Sauropod Dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Niger and the Early Evolution of Sauropoda. PLoS ONE 4(9): e6924. Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0006924 remes2009a
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate.

    jones2026b
  4. Pol, D.; Gomez, K.; Holwerda, F. M.; Rauhut, O. W. M.; Carballido, J. L. (2022). Sauropods from the Early Jurassic of South America and the Radiation of Eusauropoda. South American Sauropodomorph Dinosaurs: Record, Diversity and Evolution 131-163. Springer International Publishing. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-95959-3_4

    Recovered basal sauropod relationships bearing on Spinophorosaurus placement near Eusauropoda

    pol2022a
  5. Gomez, K. L.; Carballido, J. L.; Pol, D. (2024). Cranial anatomy of Bagualia alba (Dinosauria, Eusauropoda) from the Early Jurassic of Patagonia and the implications for sauropod cranial evolution. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 22(1): 2400471. doi:10.1080/14772019.2024.2400471

    Cranial phylogenetic analysis recovered Spinophorosaurus as basal eusauropod with Bagualia and Nebulasaurus

    gomez2024a
  6. Holwerda, F. M.; Pol, D. (2018). Phylogenetic analysis of Gondwanan basal eusauropods from the Early-Middle Jurassic of Patagonia, Argentina. Spanish Journal of Palaeontology 33(2): 289-298. doi:10.7203/sjp.33.2.13604

    Included Spinophorosaurus in a phylogenetic analysis of Gondwanan basal eusauropods.

    holwerda2018a