Alamosaurus is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaurs from the late Cretaceous Period of what is now southern North America. It was originally planned as a dinosaur before it was scrapped.[1]
Information
Alamosaurus may have been a bigger dinosaur than originally estimated, possibly in the weight class of its more famous South American cousin Argentinosaurus. It turns out that some of the "type fossils" used to reconstruct Alamosaurus may have come from adolescents rather than full-grown adults, meaning that this titanosaur may well have attained lengths of over 92 feet (28 meters) from head to tail and weighed in excess of 70 to 80 tons (140,000-160,000 pounds).
Dinosaur art and popular fiction often depicts life and death struggles between large theropods such as tyrannosaurs and long-necked sauropods. This was long thought unlikely to have happened in North America, but Alamosaurus did live in North America at a time that saw Tyrannosaurus roaming the land in search of prey. A fully grown Alamosaurus may still have been too much of a challenge for these dinosaurs, but a smaller juvenile would have certainly been within their predatory scope. Other dinosaurs that Alamosaurus shared its habitat with include the ceratopsian dinosaur Torosaurus and the hadrosaur Edmontosaurus. Additionally it would have also been possible to see the giant pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus soaring through the skies of the time.
A complete adult specimen of Alamosaurus continues to prove elusive, although this is a common problem for most large dinosaurs in general. Juveniles however are often more complete because their smaller bodies are more easily covered by sediment, and comparison of juvenile fossils with those of adults has led to estimates of around twenty meters long, give or take a meter or two, for adult Alamosaurus. A skull of Alamosaurus is also currently unknown, although associated teeth are quite slender, possibly for snipping at tree tops. Alamosaurus also seems to have lacked the osteoderm armour (bony plates that grew in the skin) that is known to be present in many other titanosaurs since out of all the known Alamosaurus remains, no osteoderms have yet been found.
Behind the scenes
Alamosaurus was considered for Saurian early in its development. Concept art by RJ Palmer was even created of Alamosaurus. However, the game developers wanted to focus on creating a more accurate representation of the Hell Creek Formation, leading Alamosaurus to being cut from the game.[2] The developers wanted Alamosaurus to be in the game, but there was no way to justify its inclusion in the Hell Creek.[1]
The concept art depicts Alamosaurus as haveing a coloration that was a mix of green and blue for display, having a blue balloon sack on its' nose, being somewhat spiky, and with a gray underbelly.
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sabriana. (September 9, 2015) I Know Dino Podcast Show Notes: Acheroraptor (Episode 43). iknowndino.com Retrieved September 9, 2016
- ↑ Is alamosaurus in the game? Facebook.