Argentinosaurus
Argentinosaurus huinculensis
Its remains belong to some of the largest known land animals, but also illustrate the uncertainty of reconstructions from fragmentary fossils.
Image: William Irvin Sellers, Lee Margetts, Rodolfo Aníbal Coria, Phillip Lars Manning · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
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Characteristics
- Scientific name
- Argentinosaurus huinculensis
- Period
- Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian)
- Lived
- 96–92 Ma (96 million years ago)
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Habitat
- Plains, Forest
- Length (estimate)
- 30 m
- Mass (estimate)
- 60,000 kg
Description
Argentinosaurus was a titanosaur known from a few very large vertebrae and limb remains. Its long neck and tail and enormous body are consistent with an animal that ate large quantities of plants. Published estimates of length and mass vary because almost no complete skeleton has been found. The growth rate, reproduction and daily movements of such giants are difficult to determine directly.
Habitat
River plains and open woodlands in Patagonia.
Fossil sites
Plottier Formation, Neuquén
Plottier Formation
Cultural profile: Argentina →
Contemporaries in the database
Sources: Argentinosaurus