Re-evaluation of Australodocus bohetii, a putative diplodocoid sauropod from the Tendaguru Formation of Tanzania, with comment on Late Jurassic sauropod faunal diversity and palaeoecology

The Late Jurassic sauropod Australodocus bohetii was originally assigned to Diplodocidae, primarily on the basis of bifurcate neural spines. The holotype and paratype materials of A. bohetii are re-examined and found to have closer affinities with Brachiosaurus and relatives than with any diplodocoid. The presence of a second titanosauriform sauropod in the Tanzanian fauna is important for understanding the palaeoecology of the region. Comparisons between Tendaguru and three other contemporaneous sauropod faunas (Morrison Formation, USA; Lourinhã and Alcobaça formations, Portugal; Cañadón Calcáreo, Argentina) are also made. The revised Tendaguru fauna, with its high diversity of high-browsing Macronarians, now more closely matches the conifer-forest dominated landscape inferred from palaeobotanical evidence. The Morrison Formation, dominated by low-browse, is once again the only formation containing multiple diplodocids.

► The diplodocoid affinities of the sauropod Australodocus bohetii are re-evaluated. ► Australodocus is most likely not a diplodocoid. ► The bulk of the evidence suggests a relationship with Brachiosaurus brancai. ► This increases the known diversity of titanosauriforms in Tendaguru. ► High titanosauriform diversity is consistent with hypotheses of conifer dominance.