University College London

Mike Taylor

I am not usually one for field photographs --- I am not a geologist, and
one bit of rock looks the same as any other to me.  I suffer from a
debilitating condition that renders me unable to see fossils in the
ground, and am reliant on other people to dig 'em out, clean 'em up and
reposit them before I'm able to make 'em into science.

But this ... this blew me away:[]{#fig1}

::: {#attachment_2117 .wp-caption .alignnone shortcode="caption" style="width: 490px"}
[![Spinophorosaurus nigerensis, holotype skeleton GCP-CV-4229 in situ
during excavation in the region of Aderbissinat, Thirozerine Dept.,
Agadez Region, Republic of Niger (Remes et al. 2009:fig.
1)](https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/remesetal2009-spinophorosaurus-fig1-field-photo.jpeg?w=480&h=313 "RemesEtAl2009-spinophorosaurus-fig1-field-photo"){.size-full
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image-title="RemesEtAl2009-spinophorosaurus-fig1-field-photo"
image-description=""
image-caption="Spinophorosaurus nigerensis, holotype skeleton GCP-CV-4229 in situ during excavation in the region of Aderbissinat, Thirozerine Dept., Agadez Region, Republic of Niger (Remes et al. 2009)
"
medium-file="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/remesetal2009-spinophorosaurus-fig1-field-photo.jpeg?w=300"
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sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px"}](http://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/remesetal2009-spinophorosaurus-fig1-field-photo.jpeg)

Spinophorosaurus nigerensis, holotype skeleton GCP-CV-4229 in situ
during excavation in the region of Aderbissinat, Thirozerine Dept.,
Agadez Region, Republic of Niger. (Remes et al. 2009:fig. 1)
:::

It's the astonishingly complete and well-preserved type specimen of a
new basal sauropod, *Spinophorosaurus*, that came out today in a paper
lead-authored by Kristian Remes, previously best known for his work on
Tendaguru diplodocines (Remes 2006, 2007, 2009) and for his work on [the
awesome remounting of the Berlin
brachiosaur](http://svpow.wordpress.com/2008/11/27/shedloads-of-awesome-part-1-the-humboldt-brachiosaur-remount/).

I'm not going to write the new taxon up in detail, but here are the
figures of its vertebrae:[]{#fig3}

::: {#attachment_2118 .wp-caption .alignnone shortcode="caption" style="width: 490px"}
[![Spinophorosaurus nigerensis GCP-CV-4229 (holotype; C, E-I) and
NMB-1698-R (paratype; A, B, D). (A, B)--- Mid-cervical vertebra in left
lateral (A) and ventral (B) views. (C)--- Last dorsal and first sacral
vertebrae in left lateral view. (D)--- Clavicle in cranial view. (E,
F)--- Proximal caudal neural spines in lateral (E) and cranial (F)
views. (G)--- Mid-caudal vertebra in lateral view. (H, I)--- Distal
caudal vertebrae in left lateral (H) and ventral (I) views.
Abbreviations: pcdl, posterior centrodiapophyseal lamina; podl,
postzygodiapophyseal lamina; spol, spinopostzygapophyseal lamina. Scale
bars = 10 cm. (Remes et al. 2009:fig.
3)](https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/remesetal2009-spinophorosaurus-fig3-vertebrae.jpeg?w=480&h=430 "RemesEtAl2009-spinophorosaurus-fig3-vertebrae"){.size-full
.wp-image-2118 aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2118" loading="lazy"
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image-title="RemesEtAl2009-spinophorosaurus-fig3-vertebrae"
image-description=""
image-caption="Spinophorosaurus nigerensis GCP-CV-4229 (holotype; C, E-I) and NMB-1698-R (paratype; A, B, D). (A, B)— Mid-cervical vertebra in left lateral (A) and ventral (B) views. (C)— Last dorsal and first sacral vertebrae in left lateral view. (D)— Clavicle in cranial view. (E, F)— Proximal caudal neural spines in lateral (E) and cranial (F) views. (G)— Mid-caudal vertebra in lateral view. (H, I)— Distal caudal vertebrae in left lateral (H) and ventral (I) views. Abbreviations: pcdl, posterior centrodiapophyseal lamina; podl, postzygodiapophyseal lamina; spol, spinopostzygapophyseal lamina. Scale bars = 10 cm. (Remes et al. 2009:fig. 3)
"
medium-file="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/remesetal2009-spinophorosaurus-fig3-vertebrae.jpeg?w=300"
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sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px"}](http://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/remesetal2009-spinophorosaurus-fig3-vertebrae.jpeg)

Spinophorosaurus nigerensis GCP-CV-4229 (holotype; C, E-I) and
NMB-1698-R (paratype; A, B, D). (A, B)--- Mid-cervical vertebra in left
lateral (A) and ventral (B) views. (C)--- Last dorsal and first sacral
vertebrae in left lateral view. (D)--- Clavicle in cranial view. (E,
F)--- Proximal caudal neural spines in lateral (E) and cranial (F)
views. (G)--- Mid-caudal vertebra in lateral view. (H, I)--- Distal
caudal vertebrae in left lateral (H) and ventral (I) views.
Abbreviations: pcdl, posterior centrodiapophyseal lamina; podl,
postzygodiapophyseal lamina; spol, spinopostzygapophyseal lamina. Scale
bars = 10 cm. (Remes et al. 2009:fig. 3)
:::

(It's a shame they didn't figure more of it, especially as the paper was
in PLoS ONE which has no length limits and absolutely stellar figure
production, but it would be churlish to complain.)

Finally, here is the skeletal reconstruction: as you can see, it's a
decent size for such a basal sauropod.  Note the freaky all-osteoderm
tail-club.[]{#fig5}

::: {#attachment_2119 .wp-caption .alignnone shortcode="caption" style="width: 490px"}
[![xx](https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/remesetal2009-spinophorosaurus-fig5-reconstruction.jpeg?w=480&h=172 "RemesEtAl2009-spinophorosaurus-fig5-reconstruction"){.size-full
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image-title="RemesEtAl2009-spinophorosaurus-fig5-reconstruction"
image-description=""
image-caption="Original skeletal reconstruction of Spinophorosaurus nigerensis (Remes et al. 2009:figure 5) 
Dimensions are based on GCP-CV-4229/NMB-1699-R, elements that are not represented are shaded. Scale bar = 1 m.
"
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sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px"}](http://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/remesetal2009-spinophorosaurus-fig5-reconstruction.jpeg)

Skeletal reconstruction of Spinophorosaurus nigerensis. Dimensions are
based on GCP-CV-4229/NMB-1699-R, elements that are not represented are
shaded. Scale bar = 1 m. (Remes et al. 2009:fig. 5)
:::

A truly amazing specimen --- I am looking forward to sitting down with
the paper and giving it the attention it deserves.

Best of all, *you* can also sit down with the paper --- because, like
all PLoS articles, it is freely available to anyone who wants it.
 Follow the link below and enjoy!  (Also available from the linked
article: super-high resolution images of the figures.)

**Timely Discussion From an E-mail Exchange Today**

Matt Wedel: That animal is just flat badass.

[Zach Miller](http://whenpigsfly-returns.blogspot.com/): It has a
goddamn thagomizer!!!

# References

::: {#_mcePaste style="position:absolute;left:-10000px;top:1186px;width:1px;height:1px;"}
Remes, Kristian.  2006.  Revision of the Tendaguru sauropod dinosaur
Tornieria africana (Fraas) and its relevance for sauropod
paleobiogeography.  Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 26(3):651-669.
:::

::: {#_mcePaste style="position:absolute;left:-10000px;top:1186px;width:1px;height:1px;"}
Remes, Kristian.  2007.  A second Gondwanan diplodocoid dinosaur from
the Upper Jurassic Tendaguru Beds of Tanzania, East Africa. Paleontology
50(3):653-667.
:::

::: {#_mcePaste style="position:absolute;left:-10000px;top:1186px;width:1px;height:1px;"}
Remes, Kristian.  2009.  Taxonomy of Late Jurassic diplodocid sauropods
from Tendaguru (Tanzania).  Fossil Record 12 (1): 23-46. doi:
10.1002/mmng.200800008
:::

::: {#_mcePaste style="position:absolute;left:-10000px;top:1186px;width:1px;height:1px;"}
Remes, Kristian, Francisco Ortega, Ignacio Fierro, Ulrich Joger, Ralf
Kosma, Jose Manuel Marin Ferrer, for the Project PALDES, for the Niger
Project SNHM, Oumarou Amadou Ide, and Abdoulaye Maga.  2009.  A new
basal sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Niger and the early
evolution of Sauropoda.  PLoS ONE 4(9):e6924.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0006924
:::

- Remes, Kristian.  2006.  Revision of the Tendaguru sauropod dinosaur
 *Tornieria africana* (Fraas) and its relevance for sauropod
 paleobiogeography.  Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 26(3):651-669.
- Remes, Kristian.  2007.  A second Gondwanan diplodocoid dinosaur from
 the Upper Jurassic Tendaguru Beds of Tanzania, East Africa.
 Paleontology 50(3):653-667.
- Remes, Kristian.  2009.  Taxonomy of Late Jurassic diplodocid
 sauropods from Tendaguru (Tanzania).  Fossil Record 12 (1): 23-46.
 doi: 10.1002/mmng.200800008
- [Remes, Kristian, Francisco Ortega, Ignacio Fierro, Ulrich Joger, Ralf
 Kosma, Jose Manuel Marin Ferrer, for the Project PALDES, for the Niger
 Project SNHM, Oumarou Amadou Ide, and Abdoulaye Maga.  2009.  A new
 basal sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Niger and the
 early evolution of Sauropoda.  PLoS ONE 4(9):e6924.
 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0006924](http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0006924)

I am not usually one for field photographs — I am not a geologist, and one bit of rock looks the same as any other to me.  I suffer from a debilitating condition that renders me unable to see fossils in the ground, and am reliant on other people to dig ’em out, clean ’em up and reposit them before I’m able to make ’em into science.

Messages de Rogue Scholar

Not a brachiosaur, but too good to ignore