Rebbachisaurus
| Rebbachisaurus Temporal range: Early-Late Cretaceous | |
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| Vertebra of Rebbachisaurus garasbae | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Sauropsida |
| Superorder: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Sauropodomorpha |
| Infraorder: | Sauropoda |
| Superfamily: | Diplodocoidea |
| Family: | Rebbachisauridae |
| Genus: | Rebbachisaurus Lavocat, 1954 |
| Species | |
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Rebbachisaurus.
Rebbachisaurus garasbae vertebra
Rebbachisaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur of the superfamily Diplodocoidea, up to 20 meters (65 ft) long, that lived during the Early–Late Cretaceous period in Africa about 99 million years ago. This massive four-legged plant-eating animal had a small head, a long, graceful neck and a whiplike tail. Rebbachisaurus is distinguished from other sauropods by its unusually tall, ridged back. The discovery of Rayososaurus, a South American sauropod nearly identical to Rebbachisaurus, supports the theory that there was still a land connection between Africa and South America during the Early Cretaceous, long after it was commonly thought the two continents had separated.
References
- Upchurch, P., Barrett, P.M., and Dodson, P. (2004). "Sauropoda". In D. B. Weishampel, H. Osmolska, and P. Dodson (eds.), The Dinosauria (2nd edition). University of California Press, Berkeley 259–322.