Dino card No. 1410 of 2,027

Perijasaurus

Say it: pe-REE-ha-SORE-us

Name means: “Perija lizard, named after the Serranía del Perijá mountain range in Colombia”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksEarly Jurassic to Middle Jurassic

Perijasaurus was a medium-sized, long-necked dinosaur that lived in tropical forests of what is now Colombia. It was an early relative of the giant sauropods like Brachiosaurus and Diplodocus. This dinosaur helps scientists understand how sauropods spread across the supercontinent Pangaea.1

Lived

180 to 171 million years ago5

Early Jurassic to Middle Jurassic

Fossils found in

Serranía del Perijá, Cesar Department, Colombia1 5

Food

Plants2

Length

10 to 15 m2

estimated from a single dorsal vertebra; size uncertain

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 3 cars parked in a rowas long as 83 bananas end to end

How big was Perijasaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Perijasaurus is the northernmost sauropod ever found in South America.1

It lived about 180 to 170 million years ago, during the Early to Middle Jurassic period.2

Only one fossil has been found: a single well-preserved back vertebra.1

The vertebra was collected in the 1940s but was not studied in detail until decades later.1

Perijasaurus was an early eusauropod, a group that includes the ancestors of the largest land animals ever.1

Its bones show an intermediate level of air pockets, a step toward the super-light skeletons of later sauropods.1

Perijasaurus lived in a tropical lowland forest near the equator.1

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

?How big was Perijasaurus?

It was a medium-sized sauropod, but its exact size is unknown because only one vertebra has been found. That vertebra is about 55 cm (22 in) tall and 45 cm (18 in) long.3 4

?What did Perijasaurus eat?

It was a plant-eating dinosaur. It lived in a tropical lowland forest near a river, so it probably ate leaves and other plants.4 3

?Where was Perijasaurus found?

Its only fossil was found in the Serranía del Perijá mountain range in Colombia, near the border with Venezuela. It is the northernmost sauropod ever found in South America.3 4

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Perijasaurus
Named by: Rincón et al. 20225
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Eusauropoda5
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda5
Age of the rocks: 180 to 171 million years (Toarcian / Aalenian)5
Rock formations: La Quinta5
Countries: Colombia5
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: The only known fossil of Perijasaurus was collected in the 1940s from the La Quinta Formation in Colombia. It was named Perijasaurus lapaz by Rincón and colleagues in 2022, after the Serranía del Perijá mountains and the town of La Paz.1 5
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how big Perijasaurus was, because only one back bone has been found. Its size is estimated from comparisons with related dinosaurs.2

Where the facts come from

A sauropod from the Lower Jurassic La Quinta Formation (Dept. Cesar, Colombia) and the initial diversification of eusauropods at low latitudes: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology: Vol 42 , No 1 - Get Access (tandfonline.com)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Perijasaurus (Wikipedia) (Wikipedia)
news.umich.edu (news.umich.edu)
Perijasaurus 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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