Look up · dinosaur 911 of 1,425
long-neck giant
Opisthocoelicaudia
Say it like this: “o-PIS-tho-SEEL-i-CAWD-ee-a”
Opisthocoelicaudia skarzynskii
Opisthocoelicaudia ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in Mongolia.
- When
- Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago
- Named in
- 1977 · Borsuk-Bialynicka, M.
- Hip height
- 2.5 m · 8 ft
- Length
- 11.4–13 m · 37–43 ft
- Weight
- 8.4–25.4 tonnes
- Found in
- Mongolia · Nemegt
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Four legs
- Kind
- long-neck giant · Sauropod
- Family branch
- Opisthocoelicaudiinae
The story in short
The genus Opisthocoelicaudia dates to 1977, the year M. Borsuk-Bialynicka described it. The name means “hollow-backed tail.”
It lived in the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian), roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago. Finds come from Mongolia, including the Nemegt Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.
Published estimates put Opisthocoelicaudia at a length near 11.4–13 m, hips about 2.5 m high, and a body mass around 8.4–25.4 tonnes.
On the family tree it sits in Opisthocoelicaudiinae, among the sauropod dinosaurs.