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Tengrisaurus

Say it: TENG-ree-SORE-us

Name means: “Tengri lizard”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksEarly Cretaceous

Tengrisaurus was a huge, long-necked plant-eater that lived in what is now Russia. It is one of the oldest known titanosaurs, a group of giant sauropods that walked the Earth during the Age of Dinosaurs.1

Lived

137 to 133 million years ago5

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Mogoito locality, near Gusinoe Lake in Buryatia, Russia2

Food

Plants5

Length

12.3 m3

largest known specimen

Weight

4.2 tonnes3

largest known specimen

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 3 cars

as long as 2.5 cars parked in a rowas long as 68 bananas end to endas heavy as 140 big dogsas heavy as 840 watermelons

How big was Tengrisaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Tengrisaurus is known only from a few vertebrae, including tail bones and one neck bone.1

Its tail vertebrae were strongly procoelous, meaning they were cup-shaped on the front and ball-shaped on the back, a feature of advanced titanosaurs.1

The name Tengrisaurus means 'Tengri lizard,' after the Mongolian sky god Tengri.1

It lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 137 to 132 million years ago.5

Tengrisaurus is one of the oldest known titanosaurs, showing that these giant dinosaurs evolved earlier than scientists once thought.2

Its vertebrae had hollow spaces (pneumaticity), which made the bones lighter while staying strong.1

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

?How big was Tengrisaurus?

About 12 metres long and weighed around 20 tonnes, similar to a large truck.4

?What did Tengrisaurus eat?

It was a plant-eater, eating leaves and other plants with its long neck.1

?When did Tengrisaurus live?

It lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 137 to 132 million years ago.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Tengrisaurus
Named by: Averianov and Skutschas 20175
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Colossosauria5
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Titanosauria > Macronaria5
Age of the rocks: 137 to 133 million years (Valanginian)5
Rock formations: Murtoi5
Countries: Russia5
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: Tengrisaurus was named in 2017 by paleontologists Alexander Averianov and Pavel Skutschas, based on three tail vertebrae found in the Murtoi Formation of Russia.1
Still debated: Scientists are still debating exactly where Tengrisaurus fits in the titanosaur family tree, with some studies placing it close to saltasaurids and others near lognkosaurs.1

Where the facts come from

Tengrisaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
A new lithostrotian titanosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Early Cretaceous of Transbaikalia, Russia | Biological Communications (biocomm.spbu.ru)
Tengrisaurus starkovi | Dinosaur Database by DinoAnimals.com (dinoanimals.com)
Tengrisaurus starkovi: SPbU scientists gave a name to a new Russian dinosaur | St. Petersburg State University (english.spbu.ru)
Tengrisaurus 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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