Wikipedia:Today's featured article/December 9, 2023
Ohmdenosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived during the Early Jurassic epoch in what is now Germany. The only known specimen (pictured) – a tibia (shinbone) and ankle – was discovered in rocks of the Posidonia Shale near the village of Ohmden. The specimen is exhibited in a local museum, where, in the 1970s, the German palaeontologist Rupert Wild recognised it as the remains of a sauropod. One of the earliest known sauropods, Ohmdenosaurus was 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 to 4 m (10 to 13 ft). Its relationships to other sauropods remain uncertain due to the incompleteness of its remains. The Posidonia Shale was deposited within a shallow inland sea. Ohmdenosaurus was a terrestrial animal, so the specimen must have been transported by predators 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. (Full article...)