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Bonapartesaurus

Say it: bo-nah-PAR-tay-SORE-us

Name means: “Bonaparte's lizard, named after the famous Argentine paleontologist José Bonaparte”1

Ate: PlantsDuck-billsLate Cretaceous

Bonapartesaurus was a duck-billed dinosaur that lived in what is now Argentina, about 72 to 66 million years ago. It walked on two legs or all fours and used its wide, toothless beak to snip off plants. This dinosaur was a hadrosaur, a group known for their amazing teeth that could grind up tough leaves.4 1

Lived

72 to 66 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Salitral Moreno site, Río Negro Province, Argentina4 1

Food

Plants4

Length

6.9 m3

largest known specimen

Weight

1.85 tonnes3

largest known specimen

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 1 cars

as long as 7 dogs nose to tailas long as 38 bananas end to endas heavy as 62 big dogsas heavy as 370 watermelons

How big was Bonapartesaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Bonapartesaurus had very long neural spines on its tail vertebrae, up to four times the height of the backbone center. This may have supported a tall tail fin or sail.2

Its name honors José Bonaparte, a famous Argentine paleontologist who discovered many South American dinosaurs.1

The only known skeleton is a partial, articulated specimen that includes parts of the spine, hips, legs, and feet.1

Bonapartesaurus belongs to the group Saurolophini, which includes duck-billed dinosaurs like Saurolophus and Prosaurolophus.4 2

Scientists think Bonapartesaurus or its ancestors migrated from North America to South America during the Late Cretaceous.2

The fossils were found in the Allen Formation, which was deposited in a river environment about 72 to 66 million years ago.4 2

Bonapartesaurus was originally thought to be part of another dinosaur called Willanakaqe salitralensis, but later study showed it was a different species.1 2

AI-made picture of Bonapartesaurus — An AI-made picture of how Bonapartesaurus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Bonapartesaurus

?How big was Bonapartesaurus?

No exact size is given in the sources, but it was a medium-sized hadrosaur, probably around 6 to 8 metres long based on related duck-billed dinosaurs.1 2

?What did Bonapartesaurus eat?

It was a herbivore that ate plants. It used its wide, toothless beak to snip off leaves and branches, and its cheek teeth ground up tough plant material.1

?Did Bonapartesaurus have a tail fin?

Maybe. Its tail vertebrae had very long neural spines (up to four times the height of the backbone center), which might have supported a tall tail fin or sail, but scientists are not sure.1 2

?Where did Bonapartesaurus live?

It lived in what is now Argentina, in the Río Negro province. The fossils were found in the Allen Formation, which was a river environment about 72 to 66 million years ago.1 2

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Bonapartesaurus
Named by: Cruzado-Caballero and Powell 20174
Group: Duck-bills
Family / clade: Hadrosauridae4
Classification: Ornithischia > Ornithopoda > Iguanodontia > Hadrosauridae4
Age of the rocks: 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)4
Rock formations: Allen4
Countries: Argentina4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: The fossils were first dug up in 1984 by paleontologist Jaime Powell and his team. In 2017, scientists Cruzado-Caballero and Powell named the new genus Bonapartesaurus after studying the bones.1 4
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how Bonapartesaurus is related to other duck-billed dinosaurs, because its skeleton is incomplete.2

Where the facts come from

Bonapartesaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Bonapartesaurus rionegrensis, a new hadrosaurine dinosaur from South America: implications for phylogenetic and biogeographic relations with North America (rid.unrn.edu.ar)
Bonapartesaurus rionegrensis | Dinosaur Database by DinoAnimals.com (dinoanimals.com)
Bonapartesaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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