Dino card No. 1283 of 2,027

Nopcsaspondylus

Say it: NOPK-sas-PON-dih-lus

Name means: “Nopcsa's vertebra”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksEarly Cretaceous

Nopcsaspondylus was a long-necked sauropod that munched on plants in what is now Argentina. It is known from just one back bone, which was lost after scientists studied it. This dinosaur is a bit of a mystery because its only fossil is gone!1

Lived

113 to 110 million years ago5

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Barda Alarcón, Neuquén Province, Argentina1 5

Food

Plants5

Length

15 m2

estimate

Weight

10 tonnes2

estimate

Height

4.5 m2

head height

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How tall was it?

head height

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 7 cars

as long as 3 cars parked in a rowas long as 83 bananas end to endas heavy as 1.5 elephantsas heavy as 2000 watermelonsas tall as 2 doors stacked up

How big was Nopcsaspondylus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Nopcsaspondylus is known from a single back vertebra that was collected in 1889 by Slovenian researcher Hugo Zapałowicz.1

The vertebra was first described by Hungarian paleontologist Franz Nopcsa in 1902, who thought it belonged to the dinosaur Bothriospondylus.1

The fossil was lost after Nopcsa studied it, so scientists today can only rely on old descriptions and drawings.1

In 2007, Argentine paleontologist Sebastián Apesteguía gave the dinosaur its own name, Nopcsaspondylus alarconensis.1

Nopcsaspondylus was a rebbachisaurid, a group of sauropods with hollow spaces in their vertebrae.1

A 2026 study said Nopcsaspondylus is a nomen dubium, meaning its fossil is too incomplete to tell it apart from other dinosaurs.1

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

?What did Nopcsaspondylus eat?

It was a herbivore, meaning it ate plants.3

?How big was Nopcsaspondylus?

Nobody knows for sure because only one back vertebra was found and it is now lost. Scientists cannot estimate its length or weight from just that bone.3

?Is Nopcsaspondylus a real dinosaur?

Yes, it is a real sauropod dinosaur, but scientists now call it a nomen dubium because its single lost vertebra is too incomplete to tell it apart from other similar dinosaurs.1 4

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Nopcsaspondylus
Named by: Apesteguía 20075
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Rebbachisauridae5
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Diplodocoidea5
Age of the rocks: 113 to 110 million years (Albian)5
Rock formations: Candeleros5
Countries: Argentina5
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: The only known fossil of Nopcsaspondylus was collected in 1889 by Hugo Zapałowicz. It was first studied by Franz Nopcsa in 1902, but not named until 2007 by Sebastián Apesteguía.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if Nopcsaspondylus is a valid dinosaur because its only fossil is lost and lacks unique features.1

Where the facts come from

Nopcsaspondylus (en.wikipedia.org)
Nopcsaspondylus alarconensis (es.wikipedia.org)
NOPCSASPONDYLUS : DinoChecker dinosaur archive (dinochecker.com)
The lost fossil of the first discovered rebbachisaurid: reassessment of Nopcsaspondylus alarconensis (Diplodocoidea, Sauropoda) (exa.ai)
Nopcsaspondylus 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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