Zapalasaurus

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.31

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