Bones and A Brain

Approximately 500 individual bones have been assigned to Ampelosaurus atacis from the excavation sites in Southern France. The femora from that location number approximately 27 individual specimens. These bones are not assumed to have come from singular individuals specifically, meaning that any number from 14 to 27 individuals may be represented by these femora. More interesting, however, is a non-specifically assigned braincase described in 2013 by Knoll, et al. The braincase includes the majority of the skull surrounding the braincase (this includes paired frontals, parietals with extensions, basioccipital, occipital, basisphenoid, parabasisphenoid, prootic, and laterosphenoid). The CT scans and 3D renderings from the description and research are available free on PLOS. The images from the study are wonderfully detailed and freely available, however, they are too large to upload. In order to look at them and appreciate them the link is contained in the reference below.

Knoll F, Ridgely RC, Ortega F, Sanz JL, Witmer LM (2013) Neurocranial Osteology and Neuroanatomy of a Late Cretaceous Titanosaurian Sauropod from Spain (Ampelosaurus sp.). PLoS ONE 8(1): e54991. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054991