Dino card No. 1588 of 2,027

Sarmientosaurus

Say it: sar-MYEN-toe-SORE-us

Name means: “Sarmiento lizard”4

Ate: PlantsLong-necksLate Cretaceous

Sarmientosaurus was a long-necked plant-eater that lived in what is now Argentina. It had a complete skull with huge eye sockets, which might have given it excellent vision. Its skull and neck bones show it may have held its head low to eat ferns and other low-growing plants.1

Lived

100 to 90 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Cañadón Las Horquetas, Estancia Laguna Palacios, Chubut Province, Patagonia, Argentina4 1

Food

Plants4 1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Sarmientosaurus is one of the few sauropods known from a complete skull, which is in fantastic condition with all its teeth still in place.1

Its eye sockets were huge, about 40 percent of the length of its skull. This may have given it better vision than many other titanosaurs.1 2

The dinosaur had a strange, long ossified tendon along its neck, which may have helped support its head or control its posture.1

Sarmientosaurus is a basal lithostrotian titanosaur, meaning it was an early relative of the huge, armored titanosaurs like Ankylosaurus.1

Based on the inner ear and neck structure, scientists think Sarmientosaurus often kept its head and neck hanging downward, much like a sad donkey.2

It lived during the Cenomanian to Turonian ages of the Late Cretaceous, about 100 to 90 million years ago.4

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

?How big was Sarmientosaurus?

Scientists do not know its exact size because only the skull and neck bones have been found. The skull is about 43 centimetres (17 inches) long.2

?What did Sarmientosaurus eat?

It was a plant-eater. It probably ate low-growing plants like ferns, because its skull and neck suggest it held its head and neck downward.2 3

?Why did Sarmientosaurus have huge eyes?

Its eye sockets were huge, about 40 percent of the skull's length. This may have given it better vision than many other titanosaurs.2 3

?When did Sarmientosaurus live?

It lived during the Late Cretaceous Period, about 95 million years ago, in what is now Argentina.2

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Sarmientosaurus
Named by: Martínez et al. 20164
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Diamantinasauria4
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Macronaria4
Age of the rocks: 100 to 90 million years (Cenomanian / Turonian)4
Rock formations: Bajo Barreal4
Countries: Argentina4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: The only known specimen of Sarmientosaurus was discovered in the Bajo Barreal Formation in Chubut Province, central Patagonia, Argentina. It was named in 2016 by Martínez and colleagues from a skull and part of the neck.4 1
Still debated: Scientists are still unsure exactly how Sarmientosaurus held its neck. Some think it kept it low for eating low plants, but others debate its precise posture.1

Where the facts come from

A Basal Lithostrotian Titanosaur (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) with a Complete Skull: Implications for the Evolution and Paleobiology of Titanosauria - PMC (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
Sarmientosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
A Basal Lithostrotian Titanosaur (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) with a Complete Skull: Implications for the Evolution and Paleobiology of Titanosauria (journals.plos.org)
Sarmientosaurus 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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