Pronunciation: dah-too-SOR-us
Meaning: Big head lizard
Author/s: Dong and Tang (1984)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Sichuan, China
Discovery Chart Position: #315
Datousaurus bashanensis
When two or more creatures of similar type, shape, and dietary preference share the same area, at least one has generally undergone some evolutionary fiddling to minimize competition. And so it was with Datousaurus, who lived alongside Shunosaurus at Dashanpu and had been blessed with thirteen elongated neck vertebrae so it could outstretch its neighbour. Unfortunately, the mamenchisaurid Omeisaurus lived there too and, with its noodle neck, it could outstretch both of them to feast upon the treetops, which, incidentally, is where the most tender and flavour-packed leaves reside.
Shunosaurus had the shortest neck of all the sauropods bar one (Brachytrachelopan), but its long and slender jaws with many slim-but-chisel-tipped teeth suggest it didn't pull the shortest straw with regards to dibs on vegetation. Datousaurus had a stupendously heavy skull with deep, robust and powerful jaws and fewer-but-wider large spoon-shaped teeth, which suggest it was relegated to feasting on the toughest, twiggiest and most tasteless low-lying chow in the forest, presuming, of course, that it actually owned this powerful plant-processing noggin.
Datousaurus was named in a "note" in 1984 and described as a "pimitive saoropod" (sic) on the strength of two complete-ish skeletons by Dong and Tang, who highlighted features such as robust limbs, five-digits on its pes (hands) and manus (feet), forked chevrons, and a pair of nares (nostrils) "in the front" (of the skull). What the authors didn't tell us at the time, however, is that its seemingly oversized, deep and boxy, Camarasaurus-like skull, with perhaps the most massive jaws of all the sauropod dinosaurs, was found detached and some distance from the body to which it was assigned. Some palaeontologists question whether this skull actually belongs to the same specimen or even the same species.
Shunosaurus had the shortest neck of all the sauropods bar one (Brachytrachelopan), but its long and slender jaws with many slim-but-chisel-tipped teeth suggest it didn't pull the shortest straw with regards to dibs on vegetation. Datousaurus had a stupendously heavy skull with deep, robust and powerful jaws and fewer-but-wider large spoon-shaped teeth, which suggest it was relegated to feasting on the toughest, twiggiest and most tasteless low-lying chow in the forest, presuming, of course, that it actually owned this powerful plant-processing noggin.
Datousaurus was named in a "note" in 1984 and described as a "pimitive saoropod" (sic) on the strength of two complete-ish skeletons by Dong and Tang, who highlighted features such as robust limbs, five-digits on its pes (hands) and manus (feet), forked chevrons, and a pair of nares (nostrils) "in the front" (of the skull). What the authors didn't tell us at the time, however, is that its seemingly oversized, deep and boxy, Camarasaurus-like skull, with perhaps the most massive jaws of all the sauropod dinosaurs, was found detached and some distance from the body to which it was assigned. Some palaeontologists question whether this skull actually belongs to the same specimen or even the same species.
(Chieftain [Big Head] Lizard)Etymology
Datousaurus is derived from the Malay "datou" (chieftain) and the Greek "sauros" (lizard). As a pun, it's also derived from the Chinese "da tou" (big head). Together, the name is intended as "Chieftain Big Head Lizard". The species epithet, bashanensis, means "from Bashan" in Latin.
Discovery
The remains of Datousaurus were discovered at Dashanpu Dinosaur Quarry in the Lower Shaximiao (Xiashaximiao) Formation, Dashanpu, Zigong, Sichuan Province, China, in 1979-1981. Only two specimens have been found, whereas many other sauropod species are often preserved in large numbers in a single deposit, which hints at a pretty solitary lifestyle.
The holotype (IVPP V 7262) is a partial skeleton with a later-assigned skull (IVPP V 7263).
