Lapparentosaurus

Say it like this: “la-pah-RENT-o-SAWR-us”

Lapparentosaurus madagascariensis

Lapparentosaurus ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Middle Jurassic. Bones have been found in Madagascar.

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When: Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) · roughly 168.2 to 165.3 million years ago
Named in: 1986 · Bonaparte, J. F.
Hip height: 2.9 m · 10 ft
Length: 12.3 m · 40 ft
Weight: 10.5 tonnes
Found in: Madagascar · Isalo III
Food and walking: Herbivore · Four legs
Kind: long-neck giant · Sauropod
Family branch: Eusauropoda

The story in short

In 1986, J. F. Bonaparte published the name Lapparentosaurus. The name honors a person tied to the fossil or its study.

It lived in the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian), roughly 168.2 to 165.3 million years ago. Finds come from Madagascar, including the Isalo III Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.

Published estimates put Lapparentosaurus at a length near 12.3 m, hips about 2.9 m high, and a body mass around 10.5 tonnes.

On the family tree it sits in Eusauropoda, among the sauropod dinosaurs.

Close relatives

Algoasaurus

Algoasaurus bauri

Early Cretaceous (Berriasian · Valanginian) · roughly 143.1 to 132.6 million years ago

Atlasaurus

Atlasaurus imelakei

Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) · roughly 168.2 to 165.3 million years ago

Bagualia

Bagualia alba

Early Jurassic (Toarcian) · roughly 184.2 to 174.7 million years ago