Brachytrachelopan

Brachytrachelopan had the shortest neck of any known sauropod, about 40 percent shorter than other dicraeosaurids.12

Its neck was so short that it could not bend upward much, so it only ate plants growing near the ground.1

This dinosaur weighed about 5 metric tons, which is as heavy as a large elephant.1

The only known fossil was found by a shepherd named Daniel Mesa while he was looking for lost sheep.1

Brachytrachelopan belonged to a group called dicraeosaurids, which were sauropods with shorter necks than most.1

Scientists think Brachytrachelopan filled the same ecological role as large iguanodontian dinosaurs in North America, which were also low-browsing plant-eaters.1

The fossil bones were found still connected to each other, but much of the skeleton had already been lost to erosion.1