Dino card No. 1558 of 2,027

Rocasaurus

Say it: ROH-kuh-SORE-us

Name means: “General Roca lizard”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksLate Cretaceous

Rocasaurus was a small, plant-eating sauropod that lived in what is now Argentina. It had a long neck and tail, and its bones were full of air spaces, making it lighter than it looked.1

Lived

72 to 66 million years ago5

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Río Negro Province, Argentina1 2

Food

Plants2

Length

8 m1

estimate

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 8 dogs nose to tailas long as 44 bananas end to end

How big was Rocasaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Rocasaurus was one of the smaller sauropods, only about 8 metres (26 feet) long.1

Its skeleton was highly pneumatic, meaning it had many air spaces in its bones, like modern birds.1

Rocasaurus lived during the Late Cretaceous, about 75 to 66 million years ago.1

It is closely related to other saltasaurid dinosaurs such as Saltasaurus and Neuquensaurus.1

The first fossils of Rocasaurus were found between 1989 and 1994 by scientists from the National University of Comahue.1

The species name muniozi honors Juan Carlos Muñoz, a paleontology director who supported research in the region.1

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

?How big was Rocasaurus?

About 8 metres (26 feet) long. That made it one of the smaller sauropods.4

?What did Rocasaurus eat?

It was a plant-eater, or herbivore. It used its long neck to reach leaves and other plants.4 5

?When did Rocasaurus live?

It lived during the Late Cretaceous, about 75 to 70 million years ago.4

?Where was Rocasaurus found?

Its fossils were found in Argentina, near the city of General Roca in Río Negro Province.4

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Rocasaurus
Named by: Salgado and Azpilicueta 20005
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Saltasauridae5
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Titanosauria > Macronaria5
Age of the rocks: 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)5
Rock formations: Allen5
Countries: Argentina5
Fossil records: 4 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: Rocasaurus was named in 2000 by Leonardo Salgado and Claudia Azpilicueta. The fossils were found near General Roca in Río Negro, Argentina.1 3
Still debated: Scientists are not sure about the exact age of the rocks where Rocasaurus was found. Some think they are from the Late Campanian, others from the Late Maastrichtian.1

Where the facts come from

Rocasaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
"Un nuevo saltasaurino (Sauropoda, Titanosauridae) de la provincia de Río Negro (Formación Allen, Cretácico Superior), Patagonia, Argentina" | Ameghiniana (ameghiniana.org.ar)
Rocasaurus - Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Rocasaurus 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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