biology

Tataouinea

Tataouinea 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 Tataouinea rather than just read about it. In short: Tataouinea is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaur in the subfamily Rebbachisaurinae of Rebbachisauridae which lived in the Early Cretaceous of Tunisia. Only one species, T. hannibalis, is known.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Tataouinea is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaur in the subfamily Rebbachisaurinae of Rebbachisauridae which lived in the Early Cretaceous of Tunisia. Only one species, T. hannibalis, is known.

Discovery and naming

The first known elements of the holotype were discovered in the Aïn el Guettar Formation in 2011 by Aldo Luigi Bacchetta, but he was unable to excavate the specimen until 2012. The remains were subsequently studied by Federico Fanti, Andrea Cau, Mohsen Hassine and Michela Contessi. The genus was named in 2013. The name refers to the Tataouine Governatorate, Tunisia, and Hannibal. In 2015 more material of the holotype specimen was uncovered after the initial description were analysed. These included additional tail vertebrae.

Description

Its bones were extensively pneumatic, providing strong support for the theory that sauropods had birdlike respiratory systems. Key characteristics of its vertebral morphology show that Tatouinea was a rebbachisaurid, closely related to the nigersaurines of Europe. A phylogenetic analysis was published alongside the paper, finding a clade of nigersaurines to include Rebbachisaurus, thus forcing the subfamily to be renamed Rebbachisaurinae. The exact size of Tataouinea is unknown, but comparison to similar sauropods indicates a size of about 14 metres (46 ft) meters long and a height of around 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) at the hips for the holotype individual.

Etymology The genus name bears the name of the region where it was discovered, Tataouine, and the epithet honours Hannibal, a Carthaginian Punic military commander.

Classification Tataouinea was placed in the Rebbachisaurinae by Fanti et al. (2015). The 2015 cladogram of Fanti et al. is shown below.

Paleoecology Tataouinea was discovered in the Jebel El Mra Member or the nearby Oum ed Diab Member of the Aptian-Albian Aïn el Guettar Formation. It coexisted with an unnamed carcharodontosaurid, Carcharodontosaurus, Spinosaurus, the notosuchian Araripesuchus, an unnamed sauropod, an unnamed iguanodont, an unnamed ornithocheirid pterosaur, an unnamed species of Sarcosuchus and a species of fish known as Mawsonia.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tataouinea

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tataouinea 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 Tataouinea 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 Tataouinea 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 Tataouinea

In research: Tataouinea 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 Tataouinea 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: Tataouinea is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Albian dinosaurs, Dinosaur genera, Dinosaurs of Africa, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tataouinea 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.

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How to study Tataouinea in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Tataouinea 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 Tataouinea out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tataouinea in simple terms?

Tataouinea is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaur in the subfamily Rebbachisaurinae of Rebbachisauridae which lived in the Early Cretaceous of Tunisia. Only one species, T. hannibalis, is known.

Why does Tataouinea 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 Tataouinea?

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 Tataouinea.