page_title: Dreadnoughtus
section_title: Posture
hierarchical_section_title: Dreadnoughtus / Description / Posture
caption_attribution_description: English: Life reconstruction of Dreadnoughtus schrani
context_page_description: Dreadnoughtus is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur containing a single species, Dreadnoughtus schrani. D. schrani is known from two partial skeletons discovered in Upper Cretaceous rocks of the Cerro Fortaleza Formation in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. It is one of the largest terrestrial vertebrates known, possessing the greatest mass of any land animal that can be calculated with reasonable certainty. D. schrani is known from a more complete skeleton than any other gigantic titanosaurian.
  Drexel University paleontologist Kenneth Lacovara, who discovered the species, chose the name Dreadnoughtus, which means “fears nothing," stating “I think it’s time the herbivores get their due for being the toughest creatures in an environment."
context_section_description: All titanosaurs had what is called wide-gauge posture, a relative term to describe a stance in which the feet fell apart from the body midline. More derived titanosaurs had a greater degree of wide-gauge posture, with their limbs held more widely than their ancestors and contemporaneous counterparts. The stance of Dreadnoughtus schrani was clearly wide-gauge, but not to the degree of saltasaurids because the femoral condyles are perpendicular to its shaft rather than beveled. This and the fact that the head of the femur was not turned in towards the body as in saltasaurids support the phylogenetic conclusion that Dreadnoughtus was not a saltasaurid. The animal's broad sternal bones also demonstrate a wide pectoral girdle, giving it a broad-shouldered, broad-chested appearance. Paleontologist Kenneth Lacovara compared the animal's gait to an Imperial Walker.
  Although the forelimbs of D. schrani are longer than in any other previously known titanosaur, they are not significantly longer than the hind limbs. Therefore, Lacovara et al. (2014) reconstructed its neck to have been held more horizontally, rather than anteriorly inclined in the manner of Brachiosaurus.
caption: Life restoration
exif: {"Image XResolution": "96", "Image YResolution": "96", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "paint.net 4.1.1"}