Janenschia

Janensch's (animal)

• Janensch · German (surname) · Werner Janensch, German paleontologist
• -ia · Latin · standard suffix for a genus name, meaning 'pertaining to'

Janenschia honours the German paleontologist Werner Janensch, who led the early 20th-century German expeditions to Tendaguru in what is now Tanzania and described many of the dinosaurs found there. The species was first described as Gigantosaurus robustus and later moved to Tornieria. Wild created the new genus Janenschia for it in 1991.

Named by

Wild

Year named

1991

Period

Late Jurassic

Stages

Kimmeridgian – Tithonian

Found in

Tendaguru Formation, Lindi Region, Tanzania

A sauropod; the type species is Janenschia robusta (originally Gigantosaurus robustus Fraas, 1908). Its exact position within Sauropoda is debated. It has been regarded as a titanosaur or close relative, and some authors have questioned how diagnostic the material is. Exact stage range is approximate.