Alamosaurus

Concept art by RJ Palmer

***Alamosaurus*** is a genus of titanosaur sauropod dinosaurs from the late Cretaceous Period of what is now southern North America. It was originally considered as a dinosaur for the game before it was scrapped.

## Information

*Alamosaurus* may have been a bigger dinosaur than originally estimated, possibly in the weight class of another famous South American titanosaur, the *Argentinosaurus*. It turns out that some of the "type fossils" used to reconstruct *Alamosaurus* may have come from adolescents rather than full-grown adults, meaning that this titanosaur may well have attained lengths of over 92 feet (28 meters) from head to tail and weighed in excess of 70 to 80 tons (140,000-160,000 pounds).

Dinosaur art and popular fiction often depicts life and death struggles between large theropods such as tyrannosaurs and long-necked sauropods.‭ ‬This was long thought unlikely to have happened in North America,‭ ‬but *Alamosaurus‭* ‬did live in North America at a time that saw *Tyrannosaurus* roaming the land in search of prey.‭ ‬A fully grown *Alamosaurus* may still have been too much of a challenge for these dinosaurs,‭ ‬but a smaller juvenile would have certainly been within their predatory scope.‭ ‬Other dinosaurs that *Alamosaurus* shared its habitat with include the ceratopsian dinosaur *Torosaurus* and the hadrosaur *Edmontosaurus*.‭ ‬Additionally it would have also been possible to see the giant pterosaur *Quetzalcoatlus* soaring through the skies of the time.

A complete adult specimen of *Alamosaurus* continues to prove elusive,‭ ‬although this is a common problem for most large dinosaurs in general.‭ ‬Juveniles however are often more complete because their smaller bodies are more easily covered by sediment,‭ ‬and comparison of juvenile fossils with those of adults has led to estimates of around twenty meters long,‭ ‬give or take a meter or two,‭ ‬for adult *Alamosaurus*.‭ ‬A skull of *Alamosaurus* is also currently unknown,‭ ‬although associated teeth are quite slender,‭ ‬possibly for snipping at tree tops.‭ *‬Alamosaurus* also seems to have lacked the osteoderm armour‭ (‬bony plates that grew in the skin‭) ‬that is known to be present in many other titanosaurs since out of all the known *Alamosaurus* remains,‭ ‬no osteoderms have yet been found.

*Alamosaurus* is found in the southern regions of North America, in fossil formations such as New Mexico's Ojo Alamo Formation and Texas's Javelina Formation and Black Peaks Formation. They don't seem to be present in more northern fossil formations of the same time, such as the Hell Creek Formation, probably because *Alamosaurus* preferred a semi-arid climate, with open plains, instead of a forest environment full of swamps. Such large sauropods also seem to share their environment with the giant pterosaur *Quetzalcoatlus*, which also preferred simillar biomes. Hell Creek azhdarchids seem to be smaller, possibly due to the environment of that location.

## In *Saurian*

This dinosaur was considered for the game, but it was scrapped due to not being an Hell Creek animal, so it isn't expected to appear in the future.

## Behind the scenes

*Alamosaurus* was considered for *Saurian* early in its development. Concept art by RJ Palmer was even created of *Alamosaurus*. However, the game developers wanted to focus on creating a more accurate representation of the Hell Creek Formation, leading *Alamosaurus* to being cut from the game. The developers wanted *Alamosaurus* to be in the game, but there was no way to justify its inclusion in Hell Creek.

The concept art depicts *Alamosaurus* as having a coloration that was a mix of green and blue for display, having a blue balloon sack on its' nose, being somewhat spiky, and with a gray underbelly.

## Notes and references

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sabriana. (September 9, 2015) I Know Dino Podcast Show Notes: Acheroraptor (Episode 43). *iknowndino.com* Retrieved September 9, 2016
2. ↑ Is alamosaurus in the game? *Facebook*.