Karongasaurus

Karongasaurus
Temporal occurrence
	Lower Cretaceous (possibly Aptium )
	126.3 to 112.9 million years
Locations
	Africa ( Malawi );
Systematics
	Dinosaur (dinosauria)
	Lizard dinosaur (Saurischia)
	Sauropodomorpha
	Sauropods (Sauropoda)
	Titanosaurs (Titanosauria)
	Karongasaurus
Scientific name
	Karongasaurus
	Gomani , 2005
Art
	Karongasaurus gittelmani;

Karongasaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur belonging to the Titanosauria group thatlived in Africaduring the Lower Cretaceous . So far only a left lower jaw and isolated teeth are known, which were found in the Mwakasyunguti area in the Karonga districtin northern Malawi . The systematic position within the Titanosauria is unknown. The only species is Karongasaurus gittelmani .

features

Karongasaurus shared its habitat with Malawisaurus , another, much better known titanosaur. In contrast to the high and short skull of Malawisaurus , Karongasaurus showed the elongated snout typical of derived (advanced) Titanosauria. The pin-shaped teeth were limited to the foremost part of the snout. In contrast to other Titanosauria, the teeth were less box-shaped when viewed from above; the lower jaw was rounded in the area in front of the symphysis .

Find and naming

So far, a lower jaw ( holotype , copy number Mal-175) including conical replacement teeth and isolated teeth are known. These fossils were recovered from field trips by the Malawi Dinosaur Project between 1987 and 1992, a joint venture between the Malawian Department of Antiquities and Southern Methodist University in Dallas, USA. The rock strata at the site - the so-called Dinosaur Beds - belong to the Lupata group and can probably be dated to the Aptium (126.3 to 112.9 million years ago).

Karongasaurus was first scientifically described in 2005 by Elizabeth M. Gomani . The name refers to the Karonga district in northern Malawi, where the fossils were found; the second part of the species name, gittelmani , honors Steve Gittelman, President of the Dinosaur Society .

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b ^c Elizabeth M. Gomani: Sauropod dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous of Malawi, Africa. In: Palaeontologia Electronica. Vol. 8, No. 1, 2005, ISSN 1094-8074 , pp. 1–37, online (PDF; 6.91 MB) .

[gomani_05-1] A ^b ^c Elizabeth M. Gomani: Sauropod dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous of Malawi, Africa. In: Palaeontologia Electronica. Vol. 8, No. 1, 2005, ISSN 1094-8074 , pp. 1–37, online (PDF; 6.91 MB) .