Atlasaurus imelakei

Atlasaurus imelakei. Pencil, 2011.

Atlasaurus imelakei is a species of macronarian sauropod from the Middle Jurassic (late Bathonian-Callovian) of Morocco. The exact relationship of this sauropod with the other members of Macronaria are not yet completely understood though according to the Wikipedia's article [link] Atlasaurus is closely related to genus Brachiosaurus (the article misses information about that under what definition the name Brachiosaurus has been used: as in the sense of B. altithorax or as Giraffatitan brancai formerly knows as B. brancai).

What's typical for Altasaurus (besides the specific morphological characteristics of its bones that were used by the paleontologists to distinct this taxon) are its unusual proportions. This sauropod has relatively short neck for a macronarian. Its arms and hands are as long as its legs. Proportionally its limbs are longer in comparision with any other known sauropod species. The length of Atlasaurus is estimated at around 15 m. (50 ft.) and its weight was about 22 metric tons (according to Wikipedia).

The keratinous spikes along the back and on the dorsal part of the body depicted in this artwork are speculative. There are evidences for the presence of such structures in the sauropod Diplodocus, so this has been used as a base for extrapolation. It's also well known that many different groups of dinosaurs had some kind of integument or ornamental keratinous structures in the dorsal part of the body (including feathers in theropods).

As much as I don't want to admit it I've used Gregory S. Paul's skeletal drawing of Atlasaurus imelakei from "The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs" for information about the proportion of the depicted animal. I'm by no means using his skeletal drawing for my own profit. It's being used entirely for educational purposes and the fun of creating paleoart itself. As everyone can see I'm not trying to copy his style either.

References: Paul, Greg S. (2010). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press.
Online sources: [link] [link] [link]

On a side note, without relation to this artwork I want to post a couple of things about annoying problem I see in many sauropod reconstructions. I see many artists (paleoartists and mainstream artists from all skill levels) depicting the hands and feet on their sauropods wrong. First of, sauropods don't have elephantine-like oval shaped hands. The correct shape is resembling horseshoe. Second of, sauropod hands had only one visible claw on them- the thumb claw. That's a rule for all the members of Eusauropoda (I'm not sure about the more basal members of Sauropoda). Third of, there are only three claws on each foot and their size increase progressing inward. I know it's not much of deal about most artists and they don't really care but in the end it doesn't hurt if an artist tries to keep the anatomy of the depicted animal right.

BTW, this deviation is my entry for 's Extinct Animals Contest [link] (EDIT: This drawing won 2nd place in the contest.)