# Ohmdenosaurus

By [Untitled](https://paragraph.com/@0x6cccf6db7e41d3451c799cc99769d70da86c251a) · 2023-12-09

---

**_Ohmdenosaurus_** ('Ohmden lizard') is a [genus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genus) of [sauropod](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauropod) [dinosaur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur) that lived during the [Early Jurassic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Jurassic) epoch in what is now Germany. The only specimen – a [tibia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibia) (shinbone) and ankle – was discovered in rocks of the [Posidonia Shale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posidonia_Shale) near the village of [Ohmden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohmden). The specimen, which was originally identified as a [plesiosaur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plesiosaur), is exhibited in a local museum, the [Urweltmuseum Hauff](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posidonia_Shale#Urweltmuseum_Hauff). In the 1970s, it caught the attention of German palaeontologist Rupert Wild, who recognised it as the remains of a sauropod. Wild named _Ohmdenosaurus_ in a 1978 publication; the only known species is **_Ohmdenosaurus liasicus_**.

One of the earliest known sauropods, _Ohmdenosaurus_ was [quadrupedal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrupedal) (four-legged) and already had the columnar limbs typical for the group. It was small for a sauropod, with an estimated length of 3–4 m (10–13 ft). Its relationships to other sauropods remain uncertain due to the incompleteness of its remains, though one study found it to be a [eusauropod](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eusauropod). The Posidonia Shale was deposited within a shallow [inland sea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inland_sea_\(geology\)) and contains abundant and well-preserved fossils of [marine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_life) reptiles, including [ichthyosaurs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichthyosaur) and plesiosaurs. _Ohmdenosaurus_ was a [terrestrial](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrestrial_animal) animal, and the specimen must have been transported by [predators](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predator) or water currents at least 100 km (62 mi) from the shoreline to its site of burial. It is the only dinosaur fossil known from the shale.

---

*Originally published on [Untitled](https://paragraph.com/@0x6cccf6db7e41d3451c799cc99769d70da86c251a/ohmdenosaurus)*