Savannasaurus is a type of dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period, around 93.9 million years ago. It was found in Queensland, Australia. The name of the species is Savannasaurus elliottorum, named in 2016 by a team of scientists led by Stephen Poropat. The most complete fossil of this dinosaur is held at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs museum, and it’s nicknamed “Wade.”
Savannasaurus was about 15 meters long and weighed about 20 tonnes. It had wide hips, which helped support its heavy body and allowed it to walk on muddy ground more easily. This feature was helpful as it lived in floodplain areas where the soil could be quite soft.
The discovery of Savannasaurus began in March 2005 when David Elliot and his family found the first bones on a sheep station near Winton, Queensland. Excavations by volunteers and scientists took a long time—about a decade—to prepare and piece together the skeleton from around 40 bones that they found.
The shape of Savannasaurus’s bones helps scientists understand how it moved. Its wide pelvis and robust arm bones suggest that it had a unique walking style, where it stood with its legs spread apart. This helped it stay balanced in muddy areas.
Savannasaurus is also important in the study of dinosaur families. It is not closely related to later, more advanced sauropods but is considered an early or more basic member of the titanosaur group. This means it likely shared a common ancestor with other dinosaurs that lived across different parts of the world.
The environment where Savannasaurus lived was warm and wet, full of plants like conifers and flowering plants. It shared its habitat with other dinosaurs, including a theropod predator called Australovenator, which may have preyed on it.
Savannasaurus gives us a glimpse into a unique time in Earth’s history when dinosaurs roamed—highlighting how they adapted to their environments and how they relate to other dinosaur species.