Australodocus, meaning "southern beam" from the
Latin australis "southern" and the
Greek dokos/δοκоς "beam", is a
diplodocid sauropod dinosaur that lived during the Late
Jurassic period, around 150
million years ago in what was then
German East Africa (now
Tanzania). Its scientific name is derived from being a southern (
Gondwanan) relative of
Diplodocus. The species name honors Boheti bin Amrani, a native crew supervisor and chief preparator who was an important contributor to the
German expeditions that first excavated the Tanzanian sites.
The remains of
Australodocus bohetii were recovered from the
Tendaguru beds of Tanzania, which have been a fertile ground for many Jurassic dinosaurs, including several genera of large sauropods, such as
Giraffatitan (also known as
Brachiosaurus brancai),
Janenschia,
Tendaguria, and
Tornieria.
Australodocus itself is
based on two
neck vertebrae, which are less elongate than those of other diplodocids and differ in other anatomical details. These
vertebrae were originally part of a series of four vertebrae collected in the 1909 expedition led by
Werner Janensch; unfortunately, like some other fossils collected by German expeditions to Africa, the other bones were destroyed in
World War II. The 2007 description of the surviving bones increases the known diversity of sauropods and diplodocids in Tendaguru.