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Malarguesaurus

Say it: mal-ar-GWAY-sore-us

Name means: “Malargüe lizard, after the Malargüe Department in Mendoza Province, Argentina”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksLate Cretaceous

Malarguesaurus was a huge, long-necked plant-eater that stomped through what is now Argentina about 90 million years ago. It was a titanosauriform sauropod, meaning it was a cousin of the biggest dinosaurs that ever lived. Its bones were found in the Portezuelo Formation, and it is the second sauropod discovered in Mendoza Province.1 2

Lived

90 to 86 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Mendoza Province, Argentina1 2

Food

Plants1 2

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Malarguesaurus is known from tail vertebrae, chevrons, ribs, and limb bones, but no skull has been found.1

Its fossils were found in rocks that are between about 90.5 and 88.5 million years old, from the Turonian to Coniacian stages.1 2

Scientists think Malarguesaurus was a robust, heavy-built sauropod, based on its thick bones.1

It was first described in 2008 by González Riga and colleagues, and the full scientific paper was published in 2009.1 3

Malarguesaurus is closely related to other titanosauriforms like Ligabuesaurus and Phuwiangosaurus, and some studies place it in a group called Somphospondyli.1

The only species in this genus is Malarguesaurus florenciae.1 2

AI-made picture of Malarguesaurus — An AI-made picture of how Malarguesaurus 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.

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Malarguesaurus
Named by: González Riga et al. 20094
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Titanosauria4
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Titanosauria > Macronaria4
Age of the rocks: 90 to 86 million years (Coniacian)4
Rock formations: Los Bastos4
Countries: Argentina4
Fossil records: 2 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Malarguesaurus was named by paleontologists Bernardo González Riga, Elena Previtera, and Cecilia Pirrone in 2008, based on fossils found in the Portezuelo Formation of Mendoza, Argentina.1 3
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly where Malarguesaurus fits in the sauropod family tree; some studies place it in Titanosauria, while others put it in Somphospondyli or Macronaria.1 2

Where the facts come from

Malarguesaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Malarguesaurus florenciae gen. et sp. nov., a new titanosauriform (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Mendoza, Argentina (bionames.org)
Malarguesaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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