biology

Jobaria

Jobaria is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Jobaria rather than just read about it. In short: Jobaria is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Niger during the middle Jurassic Period, between 164 and 161 million years ago. Jobaria is currently the only known valid sauropod from the Tiouraren, where it was discovered in 1997.

Key takeaways

Jobaria belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Jobaria to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Jobaria from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Jobaria is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Niger during the middle Jurassic Period, between 164 and 161 million years ago. Jobaria is currently the only known valid sauropod from the Tiouraren, where it was discovered in 1997.

Discovery Discovered in the fall of 1997, during a four-month expedition to the Sahara desert led by paleontologist Dr. Paul Sereno, it was found in a mass-death site in the Tiourarén Formation of Niger. With over 95% of its skeleton preserved it is among the most complete sauropods ever found. The genus is named after a local mythical giant beast, Jobar, whose bones some Tuaregs believed the fossils to be. The specific name tiguidensis comes from the cliff of Tiguidi, the site of discovery. The sediments in which it was found were originally thought to represent the Hauterivian to Barremian stages of the early Cretaceous Period, dating Jobaria to approximately 132 million years ago. However, re-interpretation of the sediments showed that they are more likely from the Bathonian to Oxfordian stages of the middle Jurassic in age, between 167 and 161 million years ago.

Description

Jobaria was a primitive sauropod, about 18.2 metres (60 ft) long and estimated to weigh about 22.4 tonnes (24.7 short tons). In 2016 Gregory S. Paul gave a lower estimation of 16 metres (52 ft) and 16 tonnes (18 short tons). Its backbone and tail were simple compared to the complex vertebrae and whiplash tail of the later North America sauropods Diplodocus and Apatosaurus. It may also have been able to rear up on its hind legs as Paul Sereno concluded, after comparing the ratios of humerus and femur circumferences in Jobaria to extant elephants. The weight distribution of Jobaria indicates that it was supported by the rear limbs rather than the forelimbs (as in elephants) and is speculated that as elephants can rear up, then Jobaria would have been able to more easily.

Classification

The phylogenetic relationships of Jobaria are uncertain; it has been interpreted either as a basal macronarian, or as a non-neosauropod eusauropod, basal to the neosauropod clade. The following cladogram shows the position of Jobaria within the Eusauropoda.

References

External links

Jobaria in the Dino Directory

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Jobaria

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Jobaria claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Jobaria before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Jobaria ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Jobaria

In research: Jobaria appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Jobaria in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Jobaria is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Dinosaur genera, Dinosaurs of Niger, Fossil taxa described in 1999, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Jobaria outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Jobaria in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Jobaria means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Jobaria out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Jobaria in simple terms?

Why does Jobaria matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Jobaria?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Jobaria.