Argentinosaurus Fossil range: Cretaceous
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Sauropsida Superorder: Dinosauria Order: Saurischia Suborder: Sauropodomorpha Infraorder: Sauropoda Superfamily: Titanosauroidea Genus: Argentinosaurus
Binomial name
Argentinosaurus huinculensis Bonaparte & Coria, 1993

Argentinosaurus (meaning "Argentina lizard") was a herbivorous sauropod dinosaur that was quite possibly the largest, heaviest land animal that ever lived. It developed on the island continent of South America during the middle of the Cretaceous Period (around 100 million years ago), after all of its more familiar Laurasian Jurassic kin — like Apatosaurus — had long disappeared. The Cretaceous Period is one of the major divisions of the geologic timescale, reaching from the end of the Jurassic Period (i. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (810x717, 104 KB) Summary Argentinosaurus drawn by Frederik Spindler. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... Subclasses Anapsida Diapsida Synonyms Reptilia Laurenti, 1768 Reptiles are tetrapods and amniotes, animals whose embryos are surrounded by an amniotic membrane, and members of the class Sauropsida. ... Orders & Suborders Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Theropoda Ornithischia Thyreophora Ornithopoda Marginocephalia Dinosaurs were vertebrate animals that dominated the terrestrial ecosystem for over 160 million years, first appearing approximately 230 million years ago. ... Groups Sauropodomorpha    Saturnalia    Prosauropoda    Sauropoda Theropoda    Eoraptor    Herrerasauridae    Ceratosauria    Tetanurae       Aves(extant) Saurischians (from the Greek Saurischia meaning lizard hip) are one of the two orders/branches of dinosaurs. ... Groups Saturnalia Prosauropoda Sauropoda The Sauropodomorpha were a group of long-necked, herbivorous dinosaurs that eventually dropped down on all fours and became the largest animals that ever the walked the earth. ... Families Brachiosauridae Camarasauridae Cetiosauridae Diplodocidae Dicraeosauridae Euhelopodidae Nemegtosauridae Omeisauridae Rebbachisauridae Titanosauridae/Saltosauridae Vulcanodontidae Sauropoda, the sauropods, are a suborder or infraorder of the saurischian (lizard-hipped) dinosaurs. ... Families Andesauridae Antarctosauridae Euhelopodidae Nemegtosauridae Saltasauridae Titanosauridae Titanosaurs were a diverse group of sauropod dinosaurs, which included Saltasaurus and Isisaurus. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... José Fernando Bonaparte, Ph. ... Dr. Rodolfo Coria is an Argentine paleontologist and current director of the Museo Carmen Funes in Plaza Huincul, Neuquén Province, Argentina. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... Families Brachiosauridae Camarasauridae Cetiosauridae Diplodocidae Euhelopodidae Nemegtosauridae Titanosauridae Vulcanodontidae Sauropoda, the sauropods, are a suborder or infraorder of the saurischian (lizard-hipped) dinosaurs. ... Orders & Suborders Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Theropoda Ornithischia Thyreophora Ornithopoda Marginocephalia Dinosaurs were vertebrate animals that dominated the terrestrial ecosystem for over 160 million years, first appearing approximately 230 million years ago. ... The General Sherman, a Giant Sequoia, is generally considered to be the largest (by volume of its trunk) tree in the world The largest organism found on earth can be measured using a variety of methods. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... The Cretaceous Period is one of the major divisions of the geologic timescale, reaching from the end of the Jurassic Period (i. ... A geologic period is a subdivision of geologic time that divides an era into smaller timeframes. ... Mega-annum, usually abbreviated as Ma, is a unit of time equal to one million years. ... Laurasia was a supercontinent that most recently existed as a part of the split of the Pangaean supercontinent in the late Mesozoic era. ... The Jurassic Period is a major unit of the geologic timescale that extends from about 199. ... Species Apatosaurus ajax Apatosaurus excelsus Apatosaurus louisae Apatosaurus (pronounced ) meaning deceptive lizard, because its chevron bones were like those of Mosasaurus (Greek apatelos or apatelios = deceptive + sauros = lizard), often mistakenly referred to as Brontosaurus, is a genus of sauropod dinosaurs that lived about 140 million years ago, during the Jurassic...

Description

Not much of Argentinosaurus has been recovered: just some back vertebrae, tibia, fragmentary ribs, and sacrum. One vertebra had a length of 1.3 metres and the tibia was about 155 centimetres (58 inches) However, the spectacular proportions of these bones and comparisons with other sauropod relatives allows paleontologists to estimate the size of the animal. Early reconstructions estimated Argentinosaurus at 35 metres (115 feet) in length and a weight of perhaps 80 to 100 tonnes. More recent estimates based of Saltasaurus, Opisthocoelicaudia and Rapetosaurus suggest sizes around 22-26 meters (72 - 85 ft).[1] It is the largest dinosaur that there is good evidence for. Although it might have been smaller than Bruhathkayosaurus, which may have reached 44 metres (144 feet) in length and weighed 180 tons (however like Argentinosaurus it has been estimated shorter, at 28 - 34 meters(92 - 112 ft)), as well as the poorly known Amphicoelias fragilimus, which may have been up to 60 meters (200 feet) long, these estimates cannot be validated due to lack of evidence. A diagram of a thoracic vertebra. ... This article is about the vertebrate bone. ... For the record label, see Sacrum Torch. ... A diagram of a thoracic vertebra. ... The metre (American English:meter) is a measure of length. ... This article is about the vertebrate bone. ... A centimetre (American spelling centimeter, symbol cm) is a unit of length that is equal to one hundredth of a metre, the current SI base unit of length. ... An inch (plural: inches; symbol or abbreviation: in or, sometimes, ″ - a double prime) is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... A paleontologist carefully chips rock from a column of dinosaur vertebrae. ... For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ... A tonne or metric ton (symbol t), sometimes referred to as a metric tonne, is a measurement of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. ... Binomial name Saltasaurus loricatus Bonaparte & Powell, 1980 Saltasaurus was a small sauropod of the late Cretaceous, characterized by a diplodocid-type head (with blunt teeth only in the back of the mouth) and was the first discovered with small bony plates embedded in its skin. ... Opisthocoelicaudia was a Cretaceous sauropod from Mongolia. ... Binomial name Rapetosaurus krausei Curry-Rogers & Forster, 2004 The discovery of the Rapetosaurus, known by the single species Rapetosaurus krausei (pronounced rah-PAY-too-SORE-us KROW-sie, and meaning Krauses mischevious giant lizard) marks the first time a titanosaur has been recovered with an almost perfectly intact skeleton... The metre, or meter (symbol: m) is the SI base unit of length. ... Binomial name (Yadagiri & Ayyasami, 1989) Bruhathkayosaurus (, meaning huge bodied lizard) might have been the largest dinosaur that ever lived. ... The metre, or meter (symbol: m) is the SI base unit of length. ... Species (type) Cope, 1878b Amphicoelias (IPA pronunciation //, meaning doubly hollow, from the Greek amphi: on both sides, and koilos: hollow, concave) was a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur, which may have included the largest dinosaur ever discovered, . Based on surviving descriptions of a single fossil bone, may have been the...

Vast wings on the vertebrae suited the attachment of massive muscles.

Classification and history

The type species of Argentinosaurus, A. huinculensis, was described and published (by the Argentinian palaeontologists José F. Bonaparte and Rodolfo Coria) in 1993. Its more specific time-frame within the Cretaceous is the Albian to Cenomanian epochs, 112.2 to 93.5 million years ago. The fossil discovery site is in the Río Limay Formation in Neuquén Province, Argentina. A paleontologist carefully chips rock from a column of dinosaur vertebrae. ... José Fernando Bonaparte, Ph. ... Dr. Rodolfo Coria is an Argentine paleontologist and current director of the Museo Carmen Funes in Plaza Huincul, Neuquén Province, Argentina. ... For other uses of mya, see mya (disambiguation). ... FOSSIL is a standard for allowing serial communication for telecommunications programs under DOS. FOSSIL is an acronym for Fido Opus Seadog Standard Interface Layer. ... The Limay River is an important river in the northwestern Argentine Patagonia (the region of Comahue). ... Neuquén is a province of Argentina, located in the west of the country, at the northern end of Patagonia. ...

In popular culture

Argentinosaurus was featured in the Walking with Dinosaurs special "Land of Giants", where a herd of Argentinosaurus travelled to a riverside to lay their eggs, being preyed on during the journey by a pack of Giganotosaurus. Argentinosaurus is also featured with Giganotosaurus in the IMAX movie Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia where Dr. Rodolfo Coria shows the sites of major discoveries. The factual accuracy of part of this article is disputed. ... Binomial name Coria & Salgado, 1995 Giganotosaurus (meaning giant southern lizard, derived from the Ancient Greek gigas/γιγας meaning giant, notos/νοτος meaning south wind and saurus/σαυρος meaning lizard)[1] was a genus of carcharodontosaurid dinosaur that lived 93 to 89 million years ago during the Turonian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period. ...

Museum exhibits

Argentinosaurus is featured prominently in the permanent exhibition Giants of the Mesozoic at Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. This display depicts a hypothical encounter between Argentinosaurus and the carnivorous theropod dinosaur Giganotosaurus. Contemporary fossils of Cretaceous Period plants and animals are included in the exhibition, including two species of pterosaurs, providing a snapshot of a prehistoric ecosystem in what is now the modern Patagonia region of Argentina. At 123 feet long, this skeletal reconstruction represents the largest dinosaur mount ever to be assembled. The Fernbank Museum of Natural History offers many public programs meant to entertain as well as educate (see edutainment), promote an understanding of science and technology, and communicate to everyone the harmony and order of the natural world. ... Suborders Rhamphorhynchoidea Pterodactyloidea Pterosaurs (TEH-row-sore, winged lizards) were flying reptiles of the clade Pterosauria. ...

Reference

• (Spanish) Bonaparte J, Coria R (1993). "Un nuevo y gigantesco sauropodo titanosaurio de la Formacion Rio Limay (Albiano-Cenomaniano) de la Provincia del Neuquen, Argentina". Ameghiniana 30 (3): 271-282. 

External links

Dinosaurs Portal

• Brief introduction and an idea of the scale of a vertebra
• Another brief introduction, with the restoration at Fernbank Museum, Atlanta, Georgia
• Argentinosaurus vs. Mapusaurus
• Argentinosaurus Data sheet german/english with picture