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Argentinosaurus
Argentinosaurus was an herbivorous sauropod dinosaur that is fairly possibly the largest, heaviest land animal that ever lived. It urbanized on the island continent of South America during the Cretaceous period, after all of its more familiar Gondwanan Jurassic kin — like Apatosaurus — had long disappeared.
Description
Not much of Argentinosaurus has been improved: just some back vertebrae,
tibia, fragmentary ribs, and sacrum. However, the spectacular proportions
of these bones and the knowledge of the species' Sauropod relatives allow
paleontologists to estimate that full-grown specimens reached some 35
to 45 meters (115 to 150 feet). Weight was perhaps 80 to 100 tones (90
to 110 tons). Vast wings on the vertebrae suited the attachment of massive
muscles.
Classification and history
Argentinosaurus ("Argentina lizard") is a new discovery. The
type species, A. huinculensis, was only described and published (by the
Argentinean paleontologists José F. Bonaparte and Rodolfo Coria)
in 1993. Its more exact time-frame within the Cretaceous is the Albian
to Cenomanian epochs, 112.2 to 93.5 mya.
The fossil finding site is in the Rio Limay Formation in Neuquén Province, Argentina. Due to the huge size of each bone, Rodolfo Coria apparently stated "God forbid we ever find a whole one" to National Geographic Magazine, who were covering the event.
