Dinosaurs A to Z
Dicraeosauridae

Amargatitanis

"Amarga giant"

Generic sauropod body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Amargatitanis 29 m (95 ft) long
as long as 17 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic sauropod body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Amargatitanis
Length
29 m (95 ft)
Period
Early Cretaceous (129.4–123 Mya)
Place
Argentina
Food
Herbivore
Clade
Dicraeosauridae

Amargatitanis (meaning “Amarga giant”) is a genus of dicraeosaurid sauropod dinosaur (a type of large, long-necked quadrupedal herbivorous dinosaur) from the Barremian-aged (Lower Cretaceous) La Amarga Formation of Neuquén, Argentina. It is known from a single, incomplete postcranial skeleton consisting of a partial hindlimb, ischium, and two vertebrae. These remains were unearthed by Argentine paleontologist José Bonaparte in 1983 during an expedition by the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales and later described as a new genus and species, Amargatitanis macni by Sebastián Apesteguía. The genus name comes from the words Amarga, where the fossils were collected, and titanis meaning “titan”. Its species name is in reference to the MACN (Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales), where the remains are stored.

What we know

  • Named by Apesteguía 2007.
  • Body length estimated at about 29 m.
  • Fossils found in Argentina.

What we guess

The reconstruction notes for Amargatitanis — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.