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Zapalasaurus

Say it: zap-ah-lah-SORE-us

Name means: “lizard of Zapala, named after the city of Zapala in Argentina”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksEarly Cretaceous

Zapalasaurus was a long-necked plant-eater that lived in what is now Patagonia, Argentina, about 130 to 120 million years ago. It walked on four sturdy legs and used its long neck to reach leaves and ferns without moving its body much. This dinosaur was a early relative of the famous Diplodocus.1

Lived

126 to 120 million years ago3

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Puesto Morales, La Picaza, Neuquén Province, Argentina3 1

Food

Plants1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

The first fossils of Zapalasaurus were found in 1995 at a place called Puesto Morales, and more bones were dug up in 2004.1

Zapalasaurus is named after the city of Zapala, which is about 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of where its bones were discovered.1

Unlike some other long-necked dinosaurs, Zapalasaurus probably fed at ground level, while other sauropods in the same area ate plants higher up.1

Its tail vertebrae double in length from front to back, a feature shared with the more advanced diplodocines.2

Zapalasaurus belonged to a group called rebbachisaurids, which were early cousins of Diplodocus and lived mainly in the Early Cretaceous.3 1

The species name bonapartei honors the famous Argentine paleontologist José Bonaparte, who helped collect the first bones.1

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

?How big was Zapalasaurus?

Scientists do not know its exact size because only a partial skeleton has been found. It was a medium-sized sauropod, but no length or weight estimates have been published.1

?What did Zapalasaurus eat?

Zapalasaurus was a plant-eater. It used its long neck to browse a wide variety of low-growing plants and greens without having to walk very far.1

?When did Zapalasaurus live?

Zapalasaurus lived during the Early Cretaceous, about 130 to 120 million years ago.1

?Did Zapalasaurus have feathers?

No. Zapalasaurus was a sauropod dinosaur, and there is no evidence that any sauropod had feathers.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Zapalasaurus
Named by: Salgado et al. 20063
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Rebbachisauridae3
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Diplodocoidea3
Age of the rocks: 126 to 120 million years (Barremian / Aptian)3
Rock formations: La Amarga3
Countries: Argentina3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Zapalasaurus was first described in 2006 by a team led by Leonardo Salgado. The bones were collected by scientists from the Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Museum and the Juan A. Olsacher Museum, with help from José Bonaparte.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how big Zapalasaurus grew, because only a partial skeleton has been found.1

Where the facts come from

Zapalasaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Translated by Michael D’Emic University of Michigan (naturalhistory.si.edu)
Zapalasaurus 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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