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Dicraeosauridae

Bajadasaurus

Generic sauropod body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Bajadasaurus 5 m (16.4 ft) long
as long as 3 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic sauropod body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Bajadasaurus
Length
5 m (16.4 ft)
Period
Early Cretaceous (145–132.9 Mya)
Place
Asia · Argentina
Food
Herbivore
Clade
Dicraeosauridae
Bajadasaurus reconstruction by Slate Weasel
Reconstruction · Slate Weasel (CC-BY)

Bajadasaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous epoch (late Berriasian to Valanginian stages, between 145 and 132.9 million years ago) of northern Patagonia, Argentina. It was first described in 2019 based on a single specimen found in 2010 that includes a largely complete skull and parts of the neck. The only species is Bajadasaurus pronuspinax. The genus is classified as a member of the Dicraeosauridae, a group of relatively small and short-necked sauropods.

Bajadasaurus sported bifurcated (two-pronged), extremely elongated extending from the neck. Similarly elongated spines are known from the closely related and more completely known Amargasaurus. Several possible functions have been proposed for these spines in Amargasaurus; the 2019 description of Bajadasaurus suggested they could have served as a passive defense against predators in both genera.

What we know

  • Named by Gallina et al., 2019.
  • Fossils found in Asia and Argentina.

What we guess

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