SUUWASSEA
a plant-eating cicraeosaurid sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of North America.
Pronunciation: SOO-oo-WAH-see-uh
Meaning: Ancient thunder
Author/s: Harris and Dodson (
2004)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Montana, U.S.A.
Discovery Chart Position: #541
Suuwassea emilieae
Etymology
Suuwassea is a Crow term which literally translates as "first thunder heard in Spring". But here it's shortened to the root words "suu" (thunder) and "wassa" (ancient), which is an homage to the original "thunder lizard"—
Brontosaurus exelsus.
The
species epithet,
emilieae, is a reference to the late Emilie deHellebranth, who sponsored the expeditions that recovered the fossils.
Discovery
"Ancient thunder" was discovered at "Rattlesnake Ridge" on ancestral Crow territory within the Morrison Formation, Southern Carbon County, Montana, USA, in 1999.
The
Holotype (ANS 21122), is made up of bits of the upper jaw, the braincase, six neck and three back vertebrae, ribs, tail bones, a shoulder blade, an upper arm, a partial lower hindlimb and foot, and various fragments. The bones have an odd lay, with the lighter ones scattered at virtually a right angle to the heavier ones, suggesting the former were perhaps carried by a gentle current of water while the former had sank and became mired in mud. Or, maybe they were carried to their resting place by the carnivore who left some of its teeth mingled with the skeleton but managed to avoid leaving any bite marks on the bones that were left.
Estimations
Timeline:
Era: Mesozoic
Epoch: Late Jurassic
Stage: Kimmeridgian
Age range: 156-151 mya
Stats:
Est. max. length: 16 meters
Est. max. hip height: ?
Est. max. weight: 7.5 tons
Diet: Herbivore
References
• Harris JD and Dodson P (2004) "
A new diplodocoid sauropod dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Montana, USA".
Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 49(2): 197-210.
• Harris JD (2006) "The significance of
Suuwassea emilieae (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) for flagellicaudatan intrarelationships and evolution".
Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 4(02): 185-198.
• Harris JD (2006) "Cranial osteology of
Suuwassea emilieae (Sauropoda: Diplodocoidea: Flagellicaudata) from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Montana, USA".
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 26: 88-102.
• Harris JD (2006) "The axial skeleton of
Suuwassea emilieae (Sauropoda: Flagellicaudata) from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Montana, USA",
Palaeontology, 49: 1091-1121.
• Harris JD (2007) "The appendicular skeleton of
Suuwassea emilieae (Sauropoda: Flagellicaudata) from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Montana (USA)".
Geobios, 40: 501-522.
• Whitlock JA and Harris JD (2010) "The Dentary of
Suuwassea emilieae (Sauropoda: Diplodocoidea)".
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 30(5): 1637-1641.
• Voorhies MR (1969) "Taphonomy and population dynamics of an Early Pliocene vertebrate fauna, Knox County, Nebraska".
University of Wyoming, Contributions to Geology, Special Paper, 1: 1-69.
• Hedrick BP, Tumarkin-Deratzian AR and Dodson P (2012) "
Bone microstructure and relative age of the holotype specimen of the diplodocoid sauropod dinosaur Suuwassea emilieae".
Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 59(2): 295-304.
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To cite this page:
Atkinson, L.
"
SUUWASSEA :: from DinoChecker's dinosaur archive".
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http://www.dinochecker.com/dinosaurs/SUUWASSEA›. Web access: 07th Mar 2026.
