John P. Rafferty writes about Earth processes and the environment. [2][6]:205 The pleurocoels (excavations on the sides of the centra) were proportionally small and positioned in the front half of the centrum.

The type species, Mapusaurus roseae, is named for both the rose-colored rocks, in which the fossils were found and for Rose Letwin, who sponsored the expeditions which recovered these fossils. Using computer simulation and machine learning techniques, which found a combination of movements that minimised energy requirements, the digital Argentinosaurus learned to walk. The first Argentinosaurus bone, which is now thought to be a fibula (calf bone), was discovered in 1987 by farmer Guillermo Heredia on his farm "Las Overas" about 8 km (5 mi) east of Plaza Huincul, in Neuquén Province, Argentina. [11] In 2006, Kenneth Carpenter reconstructed Argentinosaurus using the more complete Saltasaurus as a guide and estimated a length of 30 metres (98 ft). [8], Cacharodontosaurid dinosaur genus from the Late Cretaceous period, "A new carcharodontosaurid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Argentina", "New Information on the Cranial Anatomy of, "Paleoambientes sedimentarios del Cretácico Superior de la Formación Plottier (Grupo Neuquén), Departamento Confluencia, Neuquén". Sauropod Argentinosaurus Dinosaur Facts. It was a titanosaur, some of the biggest animals to have ever walked on land, and grew to that size to protect itself from predators like Mapusaurus except that it could nearly outrun any predator away. In their 2004 study, Mazzetta and colleagues mentioned an additional femur that is housed in the La Plata Museum under the specimen number MLP-DP 46-VIII-21-3. A scientific excavation of the site led by the Argentine palaeontologist José Bonaparte was conducted in 1989, yielding several back vertebrae and parts of a sacrum—fused vertebrae between the back and tail vertebrae.

The finding of such complete remains allowed paleontologists to make confident estimates of the dinosaur’s length and weight. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica.

They did not recover it as a lognkosaurian but as either a basal titanosaur or a sister taxon of the more derived Epachthosaurus. In addition, some titanosaurs, such as Rapetosaurus and Saltasaurus, have been shown to have possessed osteoderms (armoured plates).

Titanosaur, (clade Titanosauria), diverse group of sauropod dinosaurs classified in the clade Titanosauria, which lived from the Late Jurassic Epoch (163.5 million to 145 million years ago) to the end of the Cretaceous Period (145 million to 66 million years ago). No more than a dozen vertebrae, some ribs and a 5 feet long long femur were found.

[37] A 2011 study by Philip Mannion and Calvo found Andesauridae to be paraphyletic (excluding some of the group's descendants) and likewise recommended its disuse.

Announcing our NEW encyclopedia for Kids! In Mapusaurus, the maxillary fenestrae are present in younger individuals, but gradually disappear as they mature. Argentinosaurus probably used its size as primary defense against giant predators like Mapusaurus, or Giganotosaurus, and its also reckoned that the Argentinosaurus could rear up on its hind legs to make itself look bigger. [56], Fossilised pollen indicates a wide variety of plants was present in the Huincul Formation. [4][3] Coria and Currie speculated that this may represent a long term, possibly coincidental accumulation of carcasses (some sort of predator trap) and may provide clues about Mapusaurus behavior.

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Argentinosaurus was an extremely large dinosaur, probably the largest in its area. [5] As of 2019, however, it was still uncertain whether any of these femora belonged to Argentinosaurus. A reasonably complete vertebra was found to be the third by the 1993 and 2006 studies, but the fourth by the 2010 study.

[53] These deposits were laid down during the Upper Cretaceous, either in the middle Cenomanian to early Turonian stages[54] or the early Turonian to late Santonian. In comparison, Argentinosaurus's closest titanosaur parent was Saltasaurus, which was much smaller in size at 10 tons and lived a few million years later. [50]:186 Hallett and Wedel argued size increases in the evolution of sauropods were commonly followed by size increases of their predators, theropod dinosaurs. With minimal fossilized remains of this great herbivore discovered to date, much of what researchers understand about this great beast comes from similarly constructed sauropods.

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[19] In 2016, using equations that estimate body mass based on the circumference of the humerus and femur of quadrupedal animals, Bernardo Gonzáles Riga and colleagues estimated a mass of 96.4 tonnes (106.3 short tons). [37] In their 1993 first description of Argentinosaurus, Bonaparte and Coria noted it differed from typical titanosaurids in having hyposphene-hypantrum articulations. Argentinosaurus was an incredibly large herbivore that had to feed so often that it was constantly on the move.

[39] A 2003 study by Jeffrey Wilson and Paul Upchurch found both Titanosauridae and Andesauridae to be invalid; the Titanosauridae because it was based on the dubious genus Titanosaurus and the Andesauridae because it was defined on plesiomorphies (primitive features) rather than on synapomorphies (newly evolved features that distinguish the group from related groups). The designated holotype for the genus and type species, Mapusaurus roseae, is an isolated right nasal (MCF-PVPH-108.1, Museo Carmen Funes, Paleontología de Vertebrados, Plaza Huincul, Neuquén).

The fragmentary nature of Argentinosaurus remains makes their interpretation difficult. This is a 25,000% increase in mass from hatch to herd's alpha leader.

[4] Gregory Paul gave a lower estimation of 11.5 meters (37.7 ft) and 5 metric tons (5.5 short tons). [7] The vertebrae were enormous even for sauropods; one dorsal vertebra has a reconstructed height of 159 centimetres (63 in) and a width of 129 centimetres (51 in), and the vertebral centra are up to 57 centimetres (22 in) in width.

Titanosaur size varied greatly. [2][30]:309 Bonaparte and Coria, in their 1993 description, noted the ribs were hollow, unlike those of many other sauropods, but later authors argued this hollowing could also have been due to erosion after the death of the individual.

[47] Another 2019 study by González Riga and colleagues also found Argentinosaurus to belong to Lognkosauria; they found this group to form a larger clade with Rinconsauria within Titanosauria, which they named Colossosauria. Another vertebra was interpreted by the three studies as being part of the rear section of the dorsal vertebral column, as the fourth, or as the fifth, respectively. [1], The following cladogram after Novas et al., 2013, shows the placement of Mapusaurus within Carcharodontosauridae.