Austroposeidon

## AustroposeidonSouthern Earthquake God

 **Main** Segments

MainSegments

***“ Plant-eating dinosaurs. These are Austroposeidon. They're 80 feet long. And they have colossal appetites. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Forests*
***Austroposeidon*** (Southern Poseidon, specifically referring to Poseidon as the Greek god of Earthquakes instead of him as the Greek god of the sea) is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur that lived in the Presidente Prudente Formation, São Paulo, Brazil, 72 million years ago, during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period.

## Description

### Size and Physique

*Austroposeidon* is known from a few remains of the neck, back, and hip. These fossils are enough for paleontologists to determine that the specimen is an adult titanosaur with a length of 25 meters (82 feet). As titanosaurs, they had tall shoulders and a neck held in a more vertical orientation, allowing them to reach a height of around 12 meters (40 feet).

### Prehistoric Planet's Depiction

*Main: *Austroposeidon* on Prehistoric Planet*

Main: *Austroposeidon* on Prehistoric Planet

On Prehistoric Planet, *Austroposeidon* is depicted with a long row of spines that runs from the head to the the whip-like tail, making it resemble the diplodocids, an unrelated group of long-bodied sauropods that went extinct in the Early Cretaceous Period. *Austroposeidon* is also reconstructed with mottled, velvet-esque chestnut brown skin covered in darker brown splotches.

*Austroposeidon* makes a brief appearance in the sixth and final segment of Freshwater, watching elasmosaurs as they travel down a river into the sea. A whole herd of them serves as the focus of the first segment of Forests, mowing down large areas of the forest as they feed, creating gaps in the forest that are soon quickly covered up by plants taking advantage of the large, open areas. As with most of the sauropods in the series, *Austroposeidon* makes an appearance in the Uncovered segment, "How Did Dinosaurs Get So Big?", which is focused on how the largest of dinosaurs exceeded the size limits of modern-day land animals.

## Habitat

***“ The forests in South America contain some of the world's tallest trees. They can grow to a height of over 300 feet. But there are animal giants here too. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Forests*
*Austroposeidon* lived 72 million years ago in the Presidente Prudente Formation, São Paulo, Brazil. Not much is known about the area, though it is believed that the animal, found preserved in fine sandstone, inhabited a floodplain. It is likely that, as the show suggests, the region also had its fair share of forests. Unfortunately, parts of the Presidente Prudente Formation, including the area where *Austroposeidon* was discovered in, have been lost to urban development.

## Behavior

***“ Their teeth are used not to chew, but simply to cut. A herd like this one can consume ten tonnes of vegetation every day. They prefer the tender young leaves that grow on the tips of the branches. But if they find trees that are even taller than they are, they're not defeated. They use their great weight and their eight inch-thick breastbone to simply push the trees over. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Forests*
With teeth meant to snip food to quickly gulp down, *Austroposeidon* does not rely on processing food in the mouth, but in the gut, likely with the help of gastroliths. Dr. Darren Naish, lead consultant of Prehistoric Planet, brings up research that estimates that giant sauropods consumed around 500 kilograms of plant material a day (hence, assuming there are at least 20 members in the herd, they would consume around ten tonnes a day, as the show states). The sauropods are shown to prefer young leaves, since they tend to not be as tough or as toxic as other vegetation.

In knocking down trees and opening new spaces for the forest to reclaim with new plant life, the actions of *Austroposeidons* essentially reshape their habitat, indicating that they are keystone species, creatures that play a great effect on their natural environment.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Naish, Darren (@TetZoo) (June 18, 2022) on Twitter, regarding the height of *Austroposeidon*.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 A New Giant Titanosauria (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Late Cretaceous Bauru Group, Brazil
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Naish, Darren (@TetZoo) (June 18, 2022) on Twitter, regarding the length of *Austroposeidon*.
4. ↑ Naish, Darren (@TetZoo) (June 18, 2022) on Twitter, bringing up how, though the area *Austroposeidon* lived in had plants adapted for dry climates, it showed signs of dense forests just close by.
5. ↑ Naish, Darren (@TetZoo) (June 18, 2022) on Twitter, regarding the consumption and digestion process of *Austroposeidon*.
6. ↑ Naish, Darren (@TetZoo) (June 18, 2022) on Twitter, bringing up research regarding how much food a sauropod would consume in a day.
7. ↑ Naish, Darren (@TetZoo) (June 18, 2022) on Twitter, regarding how herbivores in general usually prefer young leaves.