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long-neck giant
Patagosaurus
Say it like this: “PAT-a-go-SAWR-us”
Patagosaurus fariasi
Patagosaurus ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Early Jurassic. Bones have been found in Argentina.
- When
- Early Jurassic (Toarcian) · roughly 184.2 to 174.7 million years ago
- Named in
- 1979 · Bonaparte, J. F.
- Hip height
- 3.9 m · 13 ft
- Length
- 15–16.5 m · 49–54 ft
- Weight
- 7.9–9.4 tonnes
- Found in
- Argentina · Cañadón Asfalto
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Four legs
- Kind
- long-neck giant · Sauropod
- Family branch
- Cetiosauridae
The story in short
The genus Patagosaurus dates to 1979, the year J. F. Bonaparte described it. The name honors a person tied to the fossil or its study.
It lived in the Early Jurassic (Toarcian), roughly 184.2 to 174.7 million years ago. Finds come from Argentina, including the Cañadón Asfalto Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.
Published estimates put Patagosaurus at a length near 15–16.5 m, hips about 3.9 m high, and a body mass around 7.9–9.4 tonnes.
On the family tree it sits in Cetiosauridae, among the sauropod dinosaurs.