Kotasaurus

Kotasaurus Temporal range: Early Jurassic
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Superorder:	Dinosauria
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	Sauropodomorpha
Infraorder:	Sauropoda
Genus:	Kotasaurus Yadagiri, 1988
Species:	K. yamanpalliensis

Kotasaurus (/ˌkoʊtəˈsɔːrəs/ KOHT-ah-SAWR-us; meaning "Kota [Formation] lizard") is the name given to a genus of dinosaur from the Early Jurassic period, about 208 million to 188 million years ago. It was an early sauropod, sharing some similarities with prosauropods. Its fossils were found in 1988, in India, near a place called Yemanapalli, in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

It is the most primitive known sauropod, and is similar to prosauropods in some ways (the hip bones). This quadrupedal plant-eater was about 30 feet (9 m) long. It had a bulky body, a long tail and a long neck. It is known from a partial skeleton found in India (with no skull).

The type species, Kotasaurus yamanpalliensis, was described by P. Yadagiri in 1988.

The Geological Survey of India restored the skeletal remains of this giant skeleton and displayed at Birla Science Museum, Hyderabad.

Environment

Like all sauropods, Kotasaurus was an herbivore. However, no skull has yet been recovered and so its exact diet has not been determined. A few lone teeth are known but not sufficient to make judgments on diet.

References

• Kotasaurus in the Dinosaur Encyclopaedia