Atlasaurus

Atlasaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaurs from Middle Jurassic (Bathonian to Callovian stages) beds in North Africa.
Description.
"Atlasaurus" differs from "Brachiosaurus" relative to the estimated length of the dorsal vertebral column (assuming 12 vertebrae, ), in having a proportionately larger skull, a shorter neck (with at least 13 cervical vertebrae, shorter and more uniform in length than "Brachiosaurus"), a longer tail and more elongated limbs (humerus to femur ratio: 0.99; ulna to tibia ratio: 1.15). The teeth are spoon-shaped and have denticles. The lower jaw of "Atlasaurus" is about long, the neck was about long, the humerus long, and the femur about long. It has been estimated at in length, and in weight.
Discovery and naming.
"Atlasaurus" was described by Monbaron, Russell & Taquet in 1999. It was named after the location of discovery in the High Atlas range of the Atlas Mountains of Morocco (where the Titan Atlas was said to hold up the heavens), and for the animal's size (about long). It is known from a nearly complete skeleton with a skull found at Wawmda, in the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian-Callovian) Guettioua Formation in Morocco's Azilal Province. The type species is "Atlasaurus imelakei", the specific name coming from Arabic "Imelake", the name of a giant.
Classification.
A relatively primitive sauropod identified as a "cetiosaur" when first discovered in 1981, "Atlasaurus" appears to be closer to "Brachiosaurus" than to any other known sauropod based on detailed similarities between the vertebral column and limbs. However, more recent analyses have considered it to be a putative member of the Turiasauria. The most recent analysis of turiasaurs recovers "Atlasaurus" as a brachiosaurid.