Species · GBIF taxon 9633856
Tornieria
Gigantosaurus africanusTornieria was an elongate diplodocid sauropod that inhabited the coastal floodplains and open woodlands of prehistoric East Africa during the Late Jurassic. Equipped with a whip-like tail and an extended, sweeping neck, it stripped coarse vegetation from low and mid-tier canopies using peg-like teeth. Fossils discovered in Tanzania's renowned Tendaguru Formation demonstrate that diplodocine sauropods diversified across southern Gondwanan ecosystems alongside other massive herbivorous dinosaurs.
SauropodHerbivore
Licensed referenceMathew J. Wedel, Michael P. Taylor / CC BY-SA 4.0 · cc-by-sa
—observations
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—peak records
ExtinctConservation statusIUCN Red List categoriesLCNTVUENCREWEXExtinctRed List categories, explained →
Diet & prey
- Conifer foliage
- Cycads
- Ferns
Predators
- Veterupristisaurus
- Large theropods
ThreatsPredation by theropods and seasonal drought
HabitatsCoastal lowlands, floodplains, and river margins
Life span50–80 years (estimated)
Classification
- FamilyDiplodocidae
- SpeciesGigantosaurus africanus
Range data is not available yet.
Interaction riskLow
- Low
- Moderate
- High
- Very high
- Why interaction risk is low
- Extinct prehistoric species known exclusively from fossil remains.
Responsible observation
- Fossil Viewing: Examine mounted skeletal elements at major natural history museums such as the Museum fur Naturkunde in Berlin.
- Paleontological Research: Study sediment layers from the Tendaguru Formation to understand Late Jurassic Gondwanan ecosystems.
Neighbor (c) Etemenanki3, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · cc-by-sa
Neighbor FunkMonk / CC BY-SA 3.0 · cc-by-sa
Image unavailablePredator 
Close Relative (c) DataBase Center for Life Science (DBCLS), some rights reserved (CC BY) · cc-by
Close Relative Greg from New York, NY, America / CC BY 2.0 · cc-by
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