AAOD Dinosaur "Elliot"

SAUROPOD "ELLIOT"

Skeletal reconstruction of Elliott based on a generalised titanosauriform sauropod.
Femur (upper leg bone) assigned to Elliot is shown.

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Unknown

Sauropoda; Macronaria; Titanosauriformes

The Elliott family, Australian Age of Dinosaurs founders

Winton Formation

Earliest Late Cretaceous (late Albian), 100 million years

Hip height approximately 3 to 3.5 m

David Elliott, 1999

Queensland Museum

Fossil material:

Only the right femur (upper leg bone) can be confidently assigned to Elliot

Notes:

The Elliot dig occurred from 2001–2005 with the retrieval of dozens of bones from at least four different-sized sauropods. Elliot is only confidently known from a single bone (femur) from this large deposit.

The Elliot dig site also yielded the remains of Mary, another sauropod possibly of the same type but about half the size of Elliot. Mary and Elliot were the first two sauropods recovered from the same fossil site in Australia. The Elliot dig site is now known to be a "dinosaur graveyard" flood deposit containing the bones of several sauropods, including vertebrae from the neck, trunk and tail; pelvic and pectoral (shoulder) girdles; metacarpals (finger bones); and ribs. Proper assignment of all material is a work in progress.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Salisbury S. (2003) On the shoulders of a giant, the story of Elliot, Australia's largest dinosaur. AAOD Journal, Issue 1, pp 12–21.

Salisbury S. (2004) Prehistoric bedfellows, the 2003 excavation of Elliot the sauropod, Australia's largest dinosaur. AAOD Journal, Issue 2, pp 42–47

Salisbury, S. W., Molnar, R. E. & Lamanna, M. C. 2006. A new titanosauriform sauropod from the mid-Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) Winton Formation of central-western Queensland, Australia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 26 (Supplement to Number 4), 118A.