Dino card No. 0892 of 2,027

Itapeuasaurus

Say it: ee-tay-PWAY-oh-SORE-us

Name means: “Itapeua lizard”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksLate Cretaceous

Itapeuasaurus was a long-necked dinosaur that lived in Brazil about 100 million years ago. It munched on plants and had a very light, air-filled backbone.3 2

Lived

100 to 94 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Itapeua beach, Cajapio municipality, Maranhão, Brazil3 2

Food

Plants3

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Itapeuasaurus is the most complete diplodocoid dinosaur from the Cenomanian age found in South America.1

Its backbone had deep pits called fossae that made the bones lighter, like a bird's bones.2

The largest vertebra found was 40 centimeters (16 inches) long.1

Itapeuasaurus belongs to a group of sauropods called rebbachisaurids, which had tall neural spines on their vertebrae.2

The fossils were discovered by a fisherman named Carlos Wagner Silva in November 2014.1

Because the bones were found on a beach in the tidal zone, scientists could only dig for about four hours each day.1

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

?How big was Itapeuasaurus?

Nobody knows for sure because only a few bones have been found. The largest vertebra measures 40 centimetres (16 inches) long.1 2

?What did Itapeuasaurus eat?

It ate plants. It was a sauropod dinosaur that munched on vegetation.1

?When did Itapeuasaurus live?

It lived about 100 million years ago, during the Cenomanian age of the Late Cretaceous.1 2

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Itapeuasaurus
Named by: Lindoso et al. 20193
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Rebbachisauridae3
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Diplodocoidea3
Age of the rocks: 100 to 94 million years (Cenomanian)3
Rock formations: Alcântara3
Countries: Brazil3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Itapeuasaurus was named in 2019 by Lindoso and colleagues. The fossils were found on Itapeua beach in Brazil, first spotted by a fisherman in 2014.3 1

Where the facts come from

Itapeuasaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Diplodocoidea) from the middle Cretaceous of northern Brazil (igeo.ufrj.br)
Itapeuasaurus 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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