Dino card No. 0355 of 2,027

Cathartesaura

Say it: ka-THAR-teh-SORE-us

Name means: “vulture lizard, named after the vultures that live near where it was found”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksEarly Cretaceous

Cathartesaura was a medium-sized, long-necked plant-eater that lived in what is now Argentina. It had a light, well-muscled neck and special air pockets in its backbone. This dinosaur was a rebbachisaurid, a group of sauropods that survived into the Late Cretaceous.1 2

Lived

110 to 106 million years ago3

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

La Buitrera, Río Negro Province, Argentina3 1

Food

Plants3

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Cathartesaura is known from a partial skeleton that includes neck bones, tail bones, a shoulder blade, a hip bone, and a thigh bone.2

Its neck had special air pockets (pneumatic chambers) that made it lighter.1

Cathartesaura lived about 97 to 93 million years ago, during the Cenomanian and Turonian ages.1

It was a rebbachisaurid, a group of sauropods that were some of the last diplodocoid dinosaurs.1

The name Cathartesaura comes from the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura), because many vultures live at the fossil site called La Buitrera (which means 'the vulture place').1

The species name anaerobica honors an Argentine adhesive company that helped with the fossil's extraction.1

AI-made picture of Cathartesaura — An AI-made picture of how Cathartesaura 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 Cathartesaura

?How big was Cathartesaura?

Cathartesaura was a medium-sized sauropod, but scientists do not know its exact length or weight because only a partial skeleton has been found.1 2

?What did Cathartesaura eat?

Cathartesaura was a herbivore, meaning it ate plants. It had a long neck to reach leaves and ferns.1

?When did Cathartesaura live?

Cathartesaura lived about 97 to 93 million years ago, during the Cenomanian and Turonian ages of the Late Cretaceous.1

?Where was Cathartesaura found?

Cathartesaura was found in Argentina, at a site called La Buitrera in the Huincul Formation of Río Negro Province.1 2

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Cathartesaura
Named by: Gallina and Apesteguía 20053
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Rebbachisauridae3
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Diplodocoidea3
Age of the rocks: 110 to 106 million years (Albian)3
Rock formations: Huincul3
Countries: Argentina3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Cathartesaura was named by Pablo Gallina and Sebastián Apesteguía in 2005. The fossils were found at La Buitrera in the Huincul Formation of Argentina.3 2
Still debated: Scientists are still unsure about the exact relationships between different rebbachisaurids, including Cathartesaura.2

Where the facts come from

Cathartesaura (en.wikipedia.org)
Cathartesaura anaerobica gen. et sp. nov., a new rebbachisaurid (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Huincul Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Río Negro, Argentina (sedici.unlp.edu.ar)
Cathartesaura in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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