Dino card No. 1744 of 2,027

Tangvayosaurus

Say it: tang-vay-oh-SORE-us

Name means: “Tang Vay lizard”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksEarly Cretaceous

Tangvayosaurus was a huge, long-necked plant-eater that lived in what is now Laos during the Early Cretaceous. It was a sauropod, a group of dinosaurs known for their very long necks and tails. This dinosaur is known from the bones of two or three individuals found together.1

Lived

121 to 100 million years ago3

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Savannakhet Province, Laos1

Food

Plants2

Length

15 m1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 3 cars parked in a rowas long as 83 bananas end to end

How big was Tangvayosaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Tangvayosaurus was about 15 metres (49 feet) long, as long as a big bus.1

Its fossils were found in the Grès supérieurs Formation, which is made of sandstone and mudstone from an ancient river or lake.1

The first bones of Tangvayosaurus were discovered in 1999 by a team of scientists led by Ronan Allain.1

The species name, Tangvayosaurus hoffeti, honors French paleontologist Joshua Hoffet, who had earlier found similar bones in the same area.1

Tangvayosaurus is closely related to another sauropod from Thailand called Phuwiangosaurus.1

Scientists are not sure exactly where Tangvayosaurus fits in the sauropod family tree. Some think it was a titanosaur, while others place it in a group called Euhelopodidae.1

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

?How big was Tangvayosaurus?

Tangvayosaurus was about 15 metres (49 feet) long, as long as a big bus.1

?What did Tangvayosaurus eat?

It was a plant-eater, eating leaves and other plants.1

?When did Tangvayosaurus live?

It lived during the Early Cretaceous, about 120 to 100 million years ago.1

?Where was Tangvayosaurus found?

Its fossils were found in the Grès supérieurs Formation of Savannakhet Province, Laos.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Tangvayosaurus
Named by: Allain et al. 19993
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Euhelopodidae3
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Macronaria3
Age of the rocks: 121 to 100 million years (Aptian / Albian)3
Rock formations: Grès supérieurs3
Countries: Laos3
Fossil records: 2 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Tangvayosaurus was named in 1999 by a team of a dozen scientists led by Ronan Allain. The fossils were found at Tang Vay in Savannakhet Province, Laos.1
Still debated: Scientists still debate whether Tangvayosaurus was a titanosaur or a more primitive sauropod, and whether another species called 'Titanosaurus' falloti should be included in the same genus.1

Where the facts come from

Tangvayosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Tangvayosaurus 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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