Re: largest dinosaur

["Steve Salisbury" <steve_salisbury@bigpond.com>]

>From: Dinogeorge@aol.com
>To: dinosaur@usc.edu
>Subject: Re: largest dinosaur
>Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2001 7:49 AM

> Regarding trackways--somewhere on this list, or maybe elsewhere, I've seen
> reports of huge sauropod tracks from Australia that are supposed to be a
> couple of meters across. This would represent an animal in the size range of
> Amphicoelias fragillimus described above. Anyone know any more about these
> tracks?

The trackways you're talking about were found around 1987 in the Broome
Sandstone, Western Australia.  One set of tracks in particular belonged to
an animal with feet that were 1.5 m long.  The best estimates for a sauropod
with feet this big is 40-50 m, or about the same size as Amphicoelias
fragillimus is thought to have been.

For more details see

Thulborn, T., Hamley, T. & Foulkes, P. 1994. Preliminary report on sauropod
dinosaur tracks in the Broome Sandstone (Lower Cretaceous) of Western
Australia. Gaia 10: 85-94.

Cheers,

Steve


---------------------------
Steve Salisbury

Palaeontology and Geology, Queensland Museum
PO Box 3300, South Brisbane, Q 4101, Australia

www.Qmuseum.qld.gov.au