Ligabuesaurus

Say it like this: “lee-gah-boo-sore-us”

Ligabuesaurus leanzai

Ligabuesaurus ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Early Cretaceous. Bones have been found in Argentina.

Quiz me on Ligabuesaurus

When: Early Cretaceous (Albian) · roughly 113.2 to 100.5 million years ago
Named in: 2006 · Bonaparte, J. F.; González Riga, B. J.; Apesteguía, S.
Hip height: 4.2 m · 14 ft
Length: 24 m · 79 ft
Weight: 14.5–29 tonnes
Found in: Argentina · Lohan Cura
Food and walking: Herbivore · Four legs
Kind: long-neck giant · Sauropod
Family branch: Somphospondyli

The story in short

In 2006, J. F. Bonaparte and colleagues published the name Ligabuesaurus. The name honors a person tied to the fossil or its study.

Fossils referred to Ligabuesaurus date to the Early Cretaceous (Albian), roughly 113.2 to 100.5 million years ago. Finds come from Argentina, including the Lohan Cura Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.

Published estimates put Ligabuesaurus at a length near 24 m, hips about 4.2 m high, and a body mass around 14.5–29 tonnes.

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

Close relatives

Abdarainurus

Abdarainurus barsboldi

Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago

Angolatitan

Angolatitan adamastor

Late Cretaceous (Coniacian) · roughly 89.8 to 85.7 million years ago

Arkharavia

Arkharavia heterocoelica

Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago