Cairanoolithus dughii
France
Late Cretaceous, 70 million years
17 x 13 x 14 cm

Provenance: Swiss private collection

Titanosaurs were a group of sauropod dinosaurs (long-necked herbivores) and were some of the largest land animals of all time, with some species weighing up to 90 tonnes! Sauropods were an extremely succesful group of dinosaurs and fossil specimens have been found throughout the world. Interestingly, fossil trackways indicate that sauropods were social animals that traveled in great herds.
The famous English paleontologist, Sir Richard Owen described sauropod fossils in 1841, although a sauropod tooth was found back in 1699, before dinosaurs were understood by the scientific community.

This is an absolutely spectacular specimen because it has retained much of its original shape and it displays very detailed shell texture.