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long-neck giant
Saltasaurus
Say it like this: “SAHL-tah-SAWR-us”
Saltasaurus loricatus
Saltasaurus ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in Argentina.
- When
- Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago
- Named in
- 1980 · Bonaparte, J. F.; Powell, J. E.
- Hip height
- 2 m · 7 ft
- Length
- 8.5–12.8 m · 28–42 ft
- Weight
- 2.5–6.9 tonnes
- Found in
- Argentina · Lecho
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Four legs
- Kind
- long-neck giant · Sauropod
- Family branch
- Saltasaurinae
The story in short
In 1980, J. F. Bonaparte and J. E. Powell published the name Saltasaurus. The name means “lizard from Salta.”
Fossils referred to Saltasaurus date to the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian), roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago. Finds come from Argentina, including the Lecho Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.
Published estimates put Saltasaurus at a length near 8.5–12.8 m, hips about 2 m high, and a body mass around 2.5–6.9 tonnes.
On the family tree it sits in Saltasaurinae, among the sauropod dinosaurs.