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''Ampelosaurus'' ( ; meaning "vine lizard") is a titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur hailing from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now Europe. Its type species is ''A. atacis'', named by Le Loeuff in 1995. A possible unnamed species has given ''Ampelosaurus'' an age reaching to the latest Cretaceous, from about 70 to 66 million years ago. Like most sauropods, it would have had a long neck and tail but it also carried armor in the form of osteoderms. Over 500 bones have been assigned to ''Ampelosaurus'' and all but the braincase (assigned to ''A.'' sp.) has been assigned to ''A. atacis''. They are assigned to the same species because all the differences in the limb proportions have been linked to individual variation. ''A. atacis'' is known from a few, well-preserved teeth and some cranial material. A right scapula was discovered associated with a coracoid. The blade of the scapula, contrary to most titanosaurs, is triangular. The blade narrows at one end instead of showing an expansion like most other genera. ''A. atacis'' is also known from a pubis about long and an ilium. Aside from that, it is known from a partial forelimb, and many femora. Titanosaurians were a flourishing group of sauropod dinosaurs during Cretaceous times. The Spanish locality from the latest Cretaceous of “Lo Hueco” yielded a relatively well preserved, titanosaurian braincase, which shares a number of unique features with ''A. atacis'' from France. However, it appeared to differ from ''A. atacis'' in some traits also. The specimen has been provisionally identified as ''Ampelosaurus'' sp.. ''A.'' sp. is most likely a mature titanosaurian since the bones of the braincase have largely fused together. ''Ampelosaurus'' lived alongside many other animals. Over 8500 specimens have been found alongside it, including gastropods, bivalves, crocodiles, other sauropods, plants and invertebrates in the Villalba de la Sierra, Gres de Saint-Chinian, Marnes Rouges Inférieures and Gres de Labarre formations. Recent attention has made ''Ampelosaurus'' one of the most well-known dinosaurs known from France. ==Description== Like most sauropods, ''Ampelosaurus'' would have had a long neck and tail, but it also carried armor in the form of osteoderms long. The four osteoderms found have three different morphologies, they are plate, bulb, and spine-shaped. This dinosaur would have stretched up to about from snout to tail. ''Ampelosaurus atacis'' is known from many unattached bones and teeth. It is one of the best-known dinosaurs from France.〔 It is considered to be a dwarf sauropod by Coria ''et al.'' (2005) because it has a smaller size in comparison with its ancestors.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ampelosaurus」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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