Dino card No. 0947 of 2,027

Katepensaurus

Say it: ka-TEP-en-SORE-us

Name means: “hole lizard”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksLate Cretaceous

Katepensaurus was a long-necked sauropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Argentina. It had holes in its back bones that gave it its name. This plant-eater was a member of the rebbachisaurid family.1 4

Lived

100 to 90 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Chubut Province, central Patagonia, Argentina1 4

Food

Plants4

Length

12.9 m3

largest known specimen

Weight

4.7 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 3 cars

as long as 3 cars parked in a rowas long as 72 bananas end to endabout as heavy as an elephantas heavy as 940 watermelons

How big was Katepensaurus compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Katepensaurus had special holes in the transverse processes of its back vertebrae, which is why it was named 'hole lizard'.1

The only known specimen was a young animal that was at least seven years old and still growing when it died.1

Its fossils were found in the Bajo Barreal Formation, which is about 100 to 90 million years old, from the Cenomanian to Turonian ages.1 4

Katepensaurus is a rebbachisaurid sauropod, a group of long-necked dinosaurs that lived mostly in South America and Africa.1 2

The species name, goicoecheai, honors Alejandro Goicoechea, the owner of the ranch where the fossil was found.1

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

?How big was Katepensaurus?

Nobody knows for sure, because only a partial skeleton has been found. It was a sauropod dinosaur, but its exact size is not known from the available fossils.1

?What did Katepensaurus eat?

It was a plant-eater. As a sauropod dinosaur, it ate plants.1

?When did Katepensaurus live?

It lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 100 to 90 million years ago, in the Cenomanian to Turonian ages.1

Ask Rex about Katepensaurus

Rex only answers questions about this page. 10 questions a month.

Rex is an AI and can make mistakes. He runs on servers in the EU and questions are never saved. Never type your name or other personal things.

For dino experts

Scientific name: Katepensaurus
Named by: Ibiricu et al. 20134
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Rebbachisauridae4
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Diplodocoidea4
Age of the rocks: 100 to 90 million years (Cenomanian / Turonian)4
Rock formations: Bajo Barreal4
Countries: Argentina4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Katepensaurus was named in 2013 by Lucio Ibiricu and colleagues based on a partial skeleton found at Estancia Laguna Palacios in Argentina.1 4
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if some other rebbachisaurid fossils from the same formation also belong to Katepensaurus.1

Where the facts come from

Katepensaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
UJVP_A_776562_O (ri.conicet.gov.ar)
Katepensaurus goicoecheai | Dinosaur Database by DinoAnimals.com (dinoanimals.com)
Katepensaurus 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.

Rex is hungry! Dino Wiki is a dad's project for his dino-loving son, free with no ads. Grown-ups can feed Rex a snack to help keep it online.Feed Rex