Dino card No. 1528 of 2,027

Qunkasaura

Name means: “queen of the Cuenca lizard”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksLate Cretaceous

Qunkasaura was a long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now Spain. It had a special tail shape that looked like the tails of some South American dinosaurs. This giant walked on four sturdy legs and was one of the biggest animals in its home.1

Lived

84 to 66 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Lo Hueco fossil site, Fuentes, Cuenca, Castilla-La Mancha, central Spain1

Food

Plants3

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Qunkasaura's full scientific name is Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra. The species name 'pintiquiniestra' comes from a character in the book Don Quixote.1

This dinosaur is known from a single partial skeleton that includes ten back bones, six fused hip bones, the first eleven tail bones, and parts of its legs and hips.1

Qunkasaura lived about 83 to 66 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.3

It belonged to a group of sauropods called titanosaurs, which were some of the largest land animals ever.1

The Lo Hueco fossil site where Qunkasaura was found has yielded more than 10,000 fossils, nearly half of which are from titanosaurs.1

Scientists think Qunkasaura might be closely related to another European titanosaur called Abditosaurus.1

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

?How big was Qunkasaura?

Scientists don't know its exact size yet, but it was a large titanosaur, one of the biggest animals in its home. The partial skeleton includes a femur (thigh bone) that is still being studied.1 2

?What did Qunkasaura eat?

Qunkasaura was a plant-eater. It used its long neck to reach leaves and other plants.2

?When did Qunkasaura live?

Qunkasaura lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 83 to 66 million years ago.2

?Where was Qunkasaura found?

Its fossils were found at the Lo Hueco site in Cuenca, Spain. This site has yielded more than 10,000 fossils.1 2

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Qunkasaura
Named by: Mocho et al. 20243
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Saltasauridae3
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Titanosauria > Macronaria3
Age of the rocks: 84 to 66 million years (Campanian / Maastrichtian)3
Rock formations: Villalba de la Sierra3
Countries: Spain3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Qunkasaura was named in 2024 by paleontologist Pedro Mocho and his team. The skeleton was found at the Lo Hueco fossil site in Spain, which was discovered in 2007.1
Still debated: Scientists are still debating whether Qunkasaura belongs to the group Opisthocoelicaudiinae or is more closely related to other saltasaurids.1

Where the facts come from

A Spanish saltasauroid titanosaur reveals Europe as a melting pot of endemic and immigrant sauropods in the Late Cretaceous | Communications Biology (nature.com)
Qunkasaura (en.wikipedia.org)
Qunkasaura 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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