Dino card No. 1024 of 2,027

Leinkupal

Say it: LINE-koo-pal

Name means: “vanishing family”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksEarly Cretaceous

Leinkupal was a long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now Argentina. It was one of the last of its family, the diplodocids, which included famous dinosaurs like Diplodocus. Leinkupal had a very wide tail with strong bones to support it.2 1

Lived

139 to 133 million years ago3

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Neuquén Province, Patagonia, Argentina2 1

Food

Plants2 3

Length

9 m1

estimated

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 2 cars parked in a rowas long as 50 bananas end to end

How big was Leinkupal compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Leinkupal is the youngest known diplodocid dinosaur, meaning it lived later than any other member of its family.2 1

Its name comes from the Mapuche language and means 'vanishing family', because it was the last of its kind.1

Leinkupal had very wide tail bones with strong ridges, making its tail broader than that of many other sauropods.2 1

It lived about 136 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous period.1

Leinkupal was a relatively small sauropod, only about 9 metres (30 feet) long.1

Its fossils were found in a river environment, alongside bones of other dinosaurs like theropods and dicraeosaurids.2

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

?How big was Leinkupal?

Leinkupal was a relatively small sauropod, about 9 metres (30 feet) long.1

?When did Leinkupal live?

Leinkupal lived about 136 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous period.1

?Why is it called Leinkupal?

Its name comes from the Mapuche language and means 'vanishing family', because it was the last known member of its family, the diplodocids.1

?Where was Leinkupal found?

Leinkupal was discovered in Argentina, in the Bajada Colorada Formation of Neuquén Province.1

Ask Rex about Leinkupal

Rex only answers questions about this page. 3 questions a day.

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: Leinkupal
Named by: Gallina et al. 20143
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Diplodocidae3
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Diplodocoidea3
Age of the rocks: 139 to 133 million years (Berriasian / Valanginian)3
Rock formations: Bajada Colorada3
Countries: Argentina3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Leinkupal was named in 2014 by Pablo Gallina, Sebastián Apesteguía, Alejandro Haluza and Juan Canale. The first fossil, a front tail vertebra, was found in the Bajada Colorada Formation in Argentina.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if some other bones found at the same site belong to Leinkupal or to a different dinosaur.1

Where the facts come from

Leinkupal (en.wikipedia.org)
A Diplodocid Sauropod Survivor from the Early Cretaceous of South America | PLOS One (journals.plos.org)
Leinkupal 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