Austrosaurus
Austrosaurus (meaning "Southern lizard") was an extinct genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Allaru Formation, from the early Cretaceous (112-105 million years ago) of Central-Western Queensland in Australia. Discovery and species. The holotype, QM F2361 (consisting of three blocks containing primitive and badly weathered vertebrae and rib fragments, with a further 5 large blocks and at least 10 smaller ones later assigned to the holotype as well), was discovered by Mr. H.B. Wade on Clutha Station near Maxwelton in north Queensland in 1932, who alerted the station manager H. Mackillop, who showed his brother who sent  them to the Queensland Museum. "Austrosaurus" was described by Heber Longman in 1933. Paleobiology. Originally it was thought that sauropods spent time near or in water to relieve weight from their legs. However, this theory is now rejected and it is believed that "Austrosaurus" like all sauropods lived on dry land. Fossil finds suggest a height of approximately 3.9 metres at the hip and 4.1 metres at the shoulder, which would have given it an almost level back. According to Gregory S. Paul, it was 20 meters long and weighed about 16, 000 kg. Classification. Initially, "Austrosaurus" was considered a  cetiosaurid, like "Patagosaurus" or "Shunosaurus". Hocknull "et al." (2009) described the new sauropod "Wintonotitan" from material that originally assigned to "Austrosaurus" by Coombs and Molnar in 1981. Hocknull suggested that "Austrosaurus mckillopi" differed only slightly from the QMF 7292, the holotype of "Wintonotitan wattsii", and should be considered a "nomen dubium". Recently, Poropat "et al." (2017) reported additional sauropod material from the "Austrosaurus" type locality and assigned them to the "Austrosaurus" holotype, finding the genus to be a valid titanosauriform tentatively assignable to Somphospondyli.