page_title: Ampelosaurus
section_title: Neuroanatomy
hierarchical_section_title: Ampelosaurus / Description / Ampelosaurus sp. / Neuroanatomy
caption_attribution_description: Surface-rendered CT-based images of the cranial endocast and endosseous labyrinth of the titanosaurian sauropod Ampelosaurus sp. (MCCM-HUE-8741) from the Cretaceous of Fuentes, Spain. In right lateral (A), caudal (B), dorsal (C), and ventral (D) views. Abbreviations: CER, cerebrum; DE, dural expansion; III, oculomotor nerve; IX, glossopharyngeal nerve; LAB, labyrinth; MO, medulla oblongata; OT, olfactory tract; PFO, pituitary fossa; V, trigeminal nerve; VI, abducens nerve; VII, facial nerve; X-XI, vagoaccessory nerve; XII, hypoglossal nerve. Scale bar equals 5 cm.
context_page_description: Ampelosaurus is a titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur hailing from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now France. Its type species is A. atacis, named by Le Loeuff in 1995. A possible unnamed species has given Ampelosaurus an age reaching to the latest Cretaceous, from about 70 to 66 million years ago.
  Like most sauropods, it would have had a long neck and tail but it also carried armor in the form of osteoderms. Over 500 bones have been assigned to Ampelosaurus and all but the braincase has been assigned to A. atacis. They are assigned to the same species because all the differences in the limb proportions have been linked to individual variation. A. atacis is known from a few, well-preserved teeth and some cranial material. A right scapula was discovered associated with a coracoid. The blade of the scapula, contrary to most titanosaurs, is triangular. The blade narrows at one end instead of showing an expansion like most other genera. A. atacis is also known from a pubis about 75 centimetres long and an ilium. Aside from that, it is known from a partial forelimb, and many femora.
  Titanosaurians were a flourishing group of sauropod dinosaurs during Cretaceous times.
context_section_description: Compared with Giraffititan, the inner ear of A. sp. shows a more basal morphology. That feature is possibly related to a restricted range of possible movements that involve head-turning.
  Like in Jainosaurus and most other non-avian archosaurs, the hindbrain and midbrain of A. sp. is relatively poorly preserved in the endocast. In contrast with TMM 40435 and a few other taxa such as cf. Cetiosaurus oxoniensis and Giraffatitan, no characteristic "nub" of the cerebellum can be seen. As in TMM 40435 and many other archosaurs, the back of the brain is especially narrow in A. sp.
  The cerebral region of the brain is separated from the rest of the brain by a distinct compression caused in the endocranial cavity. The rearmost part of the cerebral region of the braincase has a top with a small expansion. This is different from Jainosaurus. However, relatively much larger expansions are known in the diplodocoid sauropods Dicraeosaurus and Diplodocus. In MCCM-HUE-8741, the small opening in the skull roof middle is responsible for a swelling on the endocast that is suggestive of a pineal system. It is in the exact position where the pineal gland is expected to have been, between the forebrain and the midbrain.
  The semicircular canals are contracted, and they are highly curved. The semicircular system of MCCM-HUE-8741 shows also a basal morphology, because the semicircular canals do not attach to each other.
caption: Endocast of the brain showing the labyrinth
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