Osteology of Barapasaurus tagorei (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Early Jurassic of India

Abstract

Abstract: The sauropod dinosaur, Barapasaurus tagorei, is known from the Early Jurassic Kota Formation (Sinemurian to Pliensbachian) of India. The taxon is represented by c. 300 bones that were found associated with large fossilized tree trunks and were collected from the interface of sandstone and mudstone units covering an area of c. 276 m2. The collection includes one partial skeleton; most of the remainder of the bones were disarticulated, disassociated and dispersed, but taphonomic analysis permits recognition of associated elements comprising several individuals. Skeletal anatomy of Barapasaurus includes several teeth, vertebrae from the caudal cervicals rearward to the terminal caudals, and most elements of the appendicular skeleton. Barapasaurus is characterized by spoon-shaped teeth with bulbous bases and grooves on the anterolabial and posterolingual sides of the crown, coarse tubercles on the carina, acamerate cranial and dorsal vertebrae, lateral laminae of the middle and caudal dorsal neural spines composed of spinodiapophyseal and spinopostzygapophyseal laminae, neural canal of the mid-dorsal vertebrae opens dorsally through a narrow slit into a large cavity and sacrum with four co-ossified vertebrae. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that Barapasaurus is basal in comparison with Vulcanodon and is removed from Eusauropoda.