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Erketu

Say it: er-KET-oo

Name means: “named after Erketu, a Mongolian god”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksLate Cretaceous

Erketu was a huge plant-eating dinosaur with an incredibly long neck. It lived in what is now Mongolia during the Early Cretaceous period. Imagine a giraffe with a neck that was almost half its body length!1 2

Lived

100 to 72 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Mongolia and China4 1

Food

Plants1 4

Length

15 m1

Weight

5 tonnes3

estimate

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 3 cars

as long as 3 cars parked in a rowas long as 83 bananas end to endabout as heavy as an elephantas heavy as 1000 watermelons

How big was Erketu compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Erketu had one of the longest necks relative to its body size of any known dinosaur. Its neck was made of extremely long vertebrae, and scientists think it could reach over 8 metres (26 feet) long.2

The bones in Erketu's neck were hollow and full of air pockets, called camellae. This made its neck lighter, so it could hold it up.2

Erketu had a unique breastbone that was shaped like a crescent moon. This is different from many other sauropods.2

The first Erketu fossil was found in 2002 during a joint expedition by the American Museum of Natural History and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences.2

Erketu lived about 100 to 72 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period.4

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

?How big was Erketu?

Erketu was about 15 metres (49 feet) long and weighed around 5 tonnes (11,000 pounds). That is roughly as long as a bus and as heavy as a small elephant.3 1

?Did Erketu have a really long neck?

Yes, its neck was about twice as long as its body, which may be a record for neck-to-body ratio among sauropods. The neck could reach over 8 metres (26 feet) long.3 1

?What did Erketu eat?

Erketu was a herbivore, meaning it ate plants. Its long neck likely helped it reach high leaves, like a giraffe, so it was probably a high browser.1 3

?When did Erketu live?

Erketu lived during the Late Cretaceous, about 96 to 89 million years ago. That is later than the Early Cretaceous date mentioned in some sources, but the most recent estimates say Late Cretaceous.3 1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Erketu
Named by: Ksepka and Norell 20064
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Euhelopodidae4
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Macronaria4
Age of the rocks: 100 to 72 million years (Cenomanian / Campanian)4
Rock formations: Baynshire4
Countries: Mongolia, China4
Fossil records: 2 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Erketu was named by Daniel Ksepka and Mark Norell in 2006. The first fossil was found in 2002 in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, and it included neck bones, a breastbone, and part of a leg.2 1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how Erketu is related to other long-necked dinosaurs. Some think it belongs to a group called Somphospondyli, but its exact family tree is still debated.2

Where the facts come from

Erketu (nhm.ac.uk)
Erketu ellisoni, a long-necked sauropod from Bor Guvé (Dornogov Aimag, Mongolia). American Museum novitates ; no. 3508 (digitallibrary.amnh.org)
Erketu (en.wikipedia.org)
Erketu 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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