Dino card No. 1534 of 2,027

Rapetosaurus

Say it: ruh-PAY-too-SOR-us

Name means: “Rapeto lizard, after a giant deity in Malagasy folklore”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksLate Cretaceous

Rapetosaurus was a long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur that lived on the island of Madagascar. It was one of the last giant sauropods, but it was smaller than its huge cousins like Argentinosaurus. A nearly complete skeleton of a baby Rapetosaurus helped scientists learn a lot about how titanosaurs grew.1

Lived

72 to 66 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Mahajanga basin, northwestern Madagascar (Maevarano Formation)1 3

Food

Plants1

Length

15 to 16.5 m1

adult estimate; juvenile was about 8 m long

Weight

10.3 tonnes1

Height

2.5 to 3.5 m1 2

hip height estimate for adult

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?

hip height estimate for adult

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 7 cars

as long as 4 cars parked in a rowas long as 92 bananas end to endas heavy as 1.5 elephantsas heavy as 2100 watermelonsas tall as 2 doors stacked up

How big was Rapetosaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Rapetosaurus is the most complete titanosaur ever found, with a skull still attached to its body.1

A baby Rapetosaurus weighed only about 3.4 kilograms (7.5 pounds) when it hatched, but could grow to over 10 tonnes as an adult.1

The young Rapetosaurus probably did not need its parents to survive, but it may have starved during Madagascar's harsh dry seasons.1

Rapetosaurus lived alongside the fierce predator Majungasaurus, which may have hunted it.1

Unlike many other titanosaurs, Rapetosaurus shared its home with only one other large plant-eater, another titanosaur.1

The name Rapetosaurus comes from Rapeto, a giant in Malagasy stories who shaped the land.1

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

?How big was Rapetosaurus?

Rapetosaurus reached about 15 metres (49 feet) long as an adult, and one estimate put a probable adult at 16.5 metres (54 feet) and 10.3 tonnes (11.35 short tons). A juvenile measured 8 metres (26 feet) long and weighed about as much as an elephant.1

?What did Rapetosaurus eat?

Rapetosaurus was a herbivore, eating plants. Its small, pencil-like teeth were good for ripping leaves off trees but not for chewing.1

?When did Rapetosaurus live?

Rapetosaurus lived in Madagascar from 70 to 66 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous Period.1

?Was Rapetosaurus bigger than T. rex?

Rapetosaurus was longer than Tyrannosaurus rex, reaching about 15 metres (49 feet) compared to T. rex's roughly 12 metres (40 feet), but the sources do not directly compare them.1

?Did Rapetosaurus have feathers?

No, Rapetosaurus was a sauropod dinosaur, and sauropods did not have feathers. The sources do not mention feathers.1

?Could Rapetosaurus swim?

The sources do not say whether Rapetosaurus could swim, but it may have roamed coastal environments like tidal flats.1

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Myth buster

Myth: Some people think all titanosaurs were enormous, like Argentinosaurus.

Truth: Rapetosaurus was much smaller, only about 15 to 16.5 meters (49 to 54 feet) long, which is less than half the length of its giant relatives.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Rapetosaurus
Named by: Curry Rogers and Forster 20013
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Saltasauroidea3
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Titanosauria > Macronaria3
Age of the rocks: 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)3
Rock formations: Maevarano3
Countries: Madagascar3
Fossil records: 5 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Rapetosaurus was named in 2001 by Kristina Curry Rogers and Catherine Forster. The fossils were found in Madagascar by a team from Stony Brook University led by David Krause.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are still debating exactly how fast Rapetosaurus grew and how long it took to reach adult size.1

Where the facts come from

Rapetosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
The last of the dinosaur titans: a new sauropod from Madagascar | Nature (nature.com)
Rapetosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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