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long-neck giant
Mendozasaurus
Say it like this: “men-DOE-suh-SOR-us”
Mendozasaurus neguyelap
Mendozasaurus ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in Argentina.
- When
- Late Cretaceous (Coniacian) · roughly 89.8 to 85.7 million years ago
- Named in
- 2003 · González Riga, B. J.
- Hip height
- 3.5 m · 11 ft
- Length
- 20–22 m · 66–72 ft
- Weight
- 16 tonnes
- Found in
- Argentina · Sierra Barrosa
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Four legs
- Kind
- long-neck giant · Sauropod
- Family branch
- Lognkosauria
The story in short
The genus Mendozasaurus dates to 2003, the year B. J. González Riga described it. The name honors a person tied to the fossil or its study.
It lived in the Late Cretaceous (Coniacian), roughly 89.8 to 85.7 million years ago. Finds come from Argentina, including the Sierra Barrosa Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.
Published estimates put Mendozasaurus at a length near 20–22 m, hips about 3.5 m high, and a body mass around 16 tonnes.
On the family tree it sits in Lognkosauria, among the sauropod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Argentinosaurus
Argentinosaurus huinculensis
Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian · Turonian) · roughly 100.5 to 89.8 million years ago
Drusilasaura
Drusilasaura deseadensis
Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian · Turonian) · roughly 100.5 to 89.8 million years ago
Futalognkosaurus
Futalognkosaurus dukei
Late Cretaceous (Turonian · Coniacian) · roughly 93.9 to 85.7 million years ago