Puertasaurus
Puertasaurus was a giant, long-necked plant-eater that lived in what is now Argentina. It was one of the biggest dinosaurs ever, maybe as long as three school buses parked end to end!1
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Fun facts
Only four bones of Puertasaurus have been found: one neck bone, one back bone, and two tail bones.1
The back bone is the widest known of any sauropod, measuring 1.68 meters (5.5 feet) across.1
Puertasaurus lived about 76 to 70 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous Period.1
Its home was a warm, wet forest with lots of rain, where it shared the land with another giant sauropod called Dreadnoughtus.1
Scientists are not sure exactly how big Puertasaurus was because so few bones have been found, but they think it was one of the heaviest dinosaurs.1
The neck bone of Puertasaurus shows it had strong muscles and ligaments to hold up its huge neck.1
Most asked questions about Puertasaurus
?How big was Puertasaurus?
Scientists are not sure, but estimates range from about 27 to 40 meters long. Most recent estimates put it around 30 meters long and 50 to 60 metric tons.12
?What did Puertasaurus eat?
Puertasaurus was a plant-eater, like all sauropods. It likely ate leaves and other plants from the trees in its forest home.2
?When did Puertasaurus live?
Puertasaurus lived during the Late Cretaceous Period, about 76 to 70 million years ago.21
?Where was Puertasaurus found?
Its bones were found in Argentina, in the Santa Cruz Province of southern Patagonia. Only four bones from one individual have been discovered.12
?Was Puertasaurus bigger than Argentinosaurus?
It is hard to say. Some early estimates made Puertasaurus as big as Argentinosaurus, but later studies suggest it was probably smaller, maybe around 30 meters long, while Argentinosaurus may have reached up to 35 meters long.1
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Myth buster
Myth: Some people think Puertasaurus was the largest dinosaur ever.
Truth: It was huge, but other titanosaurs like Argentinosaurus and Patagotitan may have been even bigger.1
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Puertasaurus
- Named by
- Novas et al. 20053
- Group
- Long-necks
- Family / clade
- Colossosauria3
- Classification
- Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Titanosauria > Macronaria3
- Age of the rocks
- 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)3
- Rock formations
- Cerro Fortaleza3
- Countries
- Argentina3
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Discovery
- The fossils were found in January 2001 by Pablo Puerta and Santiago Reuil in Argentina. Scientists named it Puertasaurus reuili in 2005.1
- Still debated
- Scientists debate the exact size of Puertasaurus because only a few bones are known, and different estimates give different lengths and weights.1
Where the facts come from
- Puertasaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- Puertasaurus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
- Puertasaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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