Welcome to Ampelosaurus
Name Definition
Vine lizard
Name Given By
Jean Le Leouff in 1995
Location
Villalba de la Sierra Formation of Spain ; Gres de Saint-Chinian Formation, Marnes Rouges Inférieures Formation, and Gres de Labarre Formation, all from France
Classification
Dinosauria, Saurischia, Sauropodomorpha, Sauropoda, Macronaria, Titanosauria, Lithostrotia, Lirainosaurinae
Size
approximately 4 - 5 meters tall (13.1 - 16.4 ft), around 15 - 16 meters long (49.2 - 52.4 ft), around 16.5 tons (~15,000 kg)
Temporal Range
Maastrichtian stage of the late Cretaceous, ~70 - 66 million years ago
Ecological niche
large armored herbivore
Species/Sub Species
A. atacis (type species), Ampelosaurus sp. discovered from the Spanish locality Lo Hueco
Diet
Ampelosaurus would have fed on low - medium height foliage present on low lying plants and trees consistent with its height
Introduction
Ampelosaurus is a genus of lithostrotian titanosaur sauropods that lived in France and possibly Spain during the late Cretaceous. Ampelosaurus means “vineyard lizard” as it was discovered near the Blanquette de Limoux vineyard (a vineyard is a place where grapes are grown to manufacture wine) which was on the south side of the region where Ampelosaurus was discovered. The species name atacis derives from the Latin word atax, which means Aude, and this is in reference to the Aude department in France where Ampelosaurus was originally discovered.
While sauropods are some of the biggest animals that would ever walk the earth, it appears they aren’t so abundant in Europe, so it would make sauropods like Ampelosaurus and Magyarosaurus famous as European sauropods. Similar to a select few titanosaurs, Ampelosaurus possessed osteoderms on its back. These osteoderms would have been around 25 - 28 cm long, and would have had three different kinds of forms, which are plate, bulb, and spine shaped.
Ampelosaurus is estimated to be around 15 - 16 meters long and around 15,000 kg in weight. It is one of the most famous European sauropods. Despite this large size, it is still considered to be a dwarf according to Coria et al. in 2005 since it is significantly smaller than its titanosaurian ancestors. Being one of the most famous European sauropods, of course Ampelosaurus was abundant in fossil remains, with almost 500 fossils from the Upper Cretaceous Bellevue locality in southern France have been assigned to Ampelosaurus atacis since 1989. This abundant amount of well-preserved elements from various parts of the body has allowed paleontologists to differentiate Ampelosaurus from other European sauropods and titanosaurs in general. The teeth, which are slightly spatulate, help differentiate Ampelosaurus from Magyarosaurus and Lirainosaurus, both of which are from Europe. The scapula blade is, contrary to most titanosaurs, is triangular and is larger towards the base, making it taper down distally. The scapula also helps Ampelosaurus differ from Magyarosaurus and Saltasaurus, as it doesn’t have the dorsal crest at the base of the scapular blade. Besides the scapula and teeth, some other fossils such as the dorsal vertebrae help differentiate Ampelosaurus from other sauropods.
Titanosaurs were the dominant sauropods for the entirety of the Cretaceous. During the Cretaceous, they radiated to all the continents on earth and they are abundant in numerous Late Cretaceous sites. However, like most sauropods, their cranial anatomy is still poorly understood. Given its osteoderm armor, it seems reasonable that Ampelosaurus has become one of the most iconic sauropods from Europe, with some other famous examples including the dwarf Magyarosaurus as well as the European titanosaur Lirainosaurus. There are some other unspecified species of European titanosaurs including one from Catalonia, Spain that may or may not belong to these genera. Even though most titanosaurs in the Cretaceous were found in southern continents that, during the Cretaceous, made up the supercontinent Gondwana, several species of titanosaurs have been discovered from Laurasia, the northern supercontinent during the Cretaceous. Some examples include Alamosaurus from North America, Opisthocoelicaudia in Asia, and Lirainosaurus & Magyarosaurus in Europe. This probably means that there would be at least some connections at one point in time between Laurasia and Gondwana, because the sauropods certainly didn’t swim there. This theory of connection between Laurasia and Gondwana can be further corroborated by the radiation of other kinds of dinosaurs, such as the find of the European abelisaurid Tarascosaurus, whereas most abelisaurids would usually be present in places such as South America or Africa. In Spain, the unidentified species of Ampelosaurus was present, and would have lived with other paleofauna such as the titanosaur Lohuecotitan pandafilandi, the ornithopod Rhabdodon sp., the turtle species Foxemys mechinorum and Iberoccitanemys convenarum, crocodyliform species such as Lohuecosuchus megadontos, Agaresuchus fontisensis, and Musturzabalsuchus sp. However, the type species, Ampelosaurus atacis, lived in France and lived with animals such as French Rhabdodon species, the dromaeosaurid Variraptor mechinorum, the extinct crocodyliform Allodaposuchus precedens, the large but primitive bird Gargantuavis philoinos, and the fellow titanosaur Lirainosaurus astibiae.
