Vouivria Facts
| Diet | Herbivore |
| Height | 4m |
| Length | 15m |
| Weight | 12 tonnes |
| Environment | Land |
| Era | Jurassic |
| Period | Middle Jurassic |
| Type | Sauropod |
| Location | France |

| Diet | Herbivore |
| Height | 4m |
| Length | 15m |
| Weight | 12 tonnes |
| Environment | Land |
| Era | Jurassic |
| Period | Middle Jurassic |
| Type | Sauropod |
| Location | France |
Vouivria was a large herbivorous sauropod dinosaur that roamed the lush landscapes of what is now France during the Middle Jurassic period, approximately 161.5 million years ago. This impressive dinosaur belonged to the same group as the famous Brachiosaurus, sharing the characteristic long neck and massive build that made sauropods some of the most magnificent creatures ever to walk the Earth.
Like other sauropods, Vouivria possessed an enormously long neck that it used like a giant crane to reach vegetation high in the treetops that other dinosaurs couldn't access. Its neck contained numerous vertebrae, each carefully designed to support the weight whilst allowing flexibility for feeding. The dinosaur moved on four sturdy, column-like legs that supported its massive body weight of around 12 tonnes.
As a plant-eater, Vouivria spent most of its time foraging for food, using its small head and simple teeth to strip leaves, ferns, and conifers from branches. Rather than chewing its food thoroughly, it likely swallowed vegetation whole, relying on stones in its stomach called gastroliths to help grind up the tough plant material during digestion.
What makes Vouivria particularly interesting to palaeontologists is its complex scientific history - the fossil specimens were originally misidentified as belonging to a completely different dinosaur called Bothriospondylus, demonstrating how our understanding of prehistoric life continues to evolve as new research techniques become available.
Vouivria had the typical sauropod body plan with an extremely long neck, small head, and massive body supported by four pillar-like legs. Its vertebrae showed specific characteristics that distinguished it from other brachiosaurids, including unique neural spine features and distinctive bone proportions that helped scientists recognise it as a separate genus.
Like other sauropods, Vouivria likely lived in small herds and spent most of its waking hours feeding on vegetation. It would have used its long neck to browse at different heights, from ground-level ferns to the tops of tall conifer trees, maximising the variety of plants it could consume in a given area.
Vouivria was first described by Philip Mannion and colleagues in 2017. The original fossils were discovered at Damparis, Jura, France.