Sicilian minimokele (SciiFii)

A sketch of a Sicilian minimokele.

The Sicilian minimokele (Minimokelesaurus insularis), also known as the Sicilian dwarf mokele, is a species of non-avian titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur that originally did not exist, but has since been created by SciiFii and introduced throughout the wetlands and forests across Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea to help boost biodiversity. The Sicilian minimokele can reach lengths of 4 meters (13 feet) and weights of 450 kilograms. Unlike most sauropods, the Sicilian minimokele is adapted to an amphibious lifestyle, and actually somewhat resembles the popular outdated reconstructions of Jurassic sauropods. Despite this, they are more terrestrial in habit than their mainland relatives, and they feed on a wide variety of leafy vegetation as well as seaweed in the shallows. The Sicilian minimokele has robust, barrel-shaped torsos and comparatively short limbs. Like the skeletons of many diving birds, their air sacs no longer invade the bones, keeping them solid and heavy and allowing the animals to stay underwater with little effort. The Sicilian minimokele has eyes and nostrils positioned near the top of its skull, allowing the animal to breathe and survey its surroundings while remaining mostly submerged. As it is smaller than many other titanosaurs and often share the waterways with a variety of big predators, Madagascan dwarf mokeles have the most extensive armour protection of any sauropod. This armor consists of a combination of closely packed ossicles, rounded scutes and triangular spines. Sicilian minimokeles feed on a wide variety of aquatic foliage ranging from riparine weeds to marine seagrasses. These sauropods live like hippos, walking along the riverbottom while placidly plucking at aquatic vegetation, sometimes using their necks to reach foliage growing on the riverbanks without leaving the water. They are often accompanied by swarms of fish that either snatch up small invertebrates in the kicked-up silt or graze on algae growing on the dinosaurs' scaly flanks. Formidable armour renders the adults effectively immune to attack from the large crocodiles that share their habitat. Females and young travel in tightly knit groups whilst the adult males tend to be solitary and territorial, fighting off rivals with a tail-club made of fused osteoderms. Brooding mothers lay their eggs in a simple, fiercely guarded pit on the riverbank. The hatchlings are 52 cm long and form creches among the reeds and sheltered pools. The conservation status of the Sicilian minimokele is Least Concern due to successful conservation efforts and the Sicilian minimokele's wide range.