Mendozasaurus
Mendozasaurus was a huge, long-necked plant-eater that lived in Argentina about 89 to 86 million years ago. It was one of the biggest dinosaurs in its family, the titanosaurs, and it had a very long neck with wide bones to support it.13
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Fun facts
Mendozasaurus was the first dinosaur ever named from Mendoza Province in Argentina, and its name means 'lizard from Mendoza'.1
It belonged to a group called Lognkosauria, which includes some of the biggest titanosaurs like Futalognkosaurus and Puertasaurus.1
Scientists found 22 mostly connected tail vertebrae, a back vertebra, and many leg bones and bony plates called osteoderms.2
Mendozasaurus had special features in its vertebrae, like subtriangular pits in the back bones and a unique shape in the tail bones.2
Some of the fossils found were from a very large adult, about 15 percent bigger than the main specimen.2
Mendozasaurus lived during the Coniacian age, about 89 to 86 million years ago, in what is now Argentina.3
Most asked questions about Mendozasaurus
?How big was Mendozasaurus?
About 20 to 22 metres long and weighed around 16 tonnes. That is roughly as long as two school buses parked end to end.1
?What did Mendozasaurus eat?
It was a plant-eater, like all sauropods. It used its very long neck to reach leaves high in trees.1
?When did Mendozasaurus live?
It lived about 89 to 86 million years ago, during the Coniacian age of the Late Cretaceous.1
?Where was Mendozasaurus found?
Its fossils were discovered in Mendoza Province, Argentina, in the Sierra Barrosa Formation. It was the first dinosaur named from that province.1
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Mendozasaurus
- Named by
- González-Riga 20033
- Group
- Long-necks
- Family / clade
- Lognkosauria3
- Classification
- Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Titanosauria > Macronaria3
- Age of the rocks
- 90 to 86 million years (Coniacian)3
- Rock formations
- Sierra Barrosa3
- Countries
- Argentina3
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Discovery
- Mendozasaurus was named by Argentine paleontologist Bernardo Javier González Riga in 2003. The fossils were found near Cerro Guillermo in Mendoza Province, Argentina, after oil workers first spotted bones there.12
- Still debated
- Scientists are still debating exactly how Mendozasaurus is related to other giant titanosaurs like Argentinosaurus and Patagotitan.1
Where the facts come from
- Mendozasaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- apa958.PDF (ameghiniana.org.ar)
- Mendozasaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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