Dinosaurs A to Z
Saltasauridae

Microcoelus patagonicus

"small hollow"

Generic sauropod body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Microcoelus 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 Microcoelus
Length
5 m (16.4 ft)
Period
Late Cretaceous (100–66 Mya)
Place
Argentina
Food
Herbivore
Clade
Saltasauridae

Microcoelus (meaning “small hollow”) is a dubious genus of small titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Santonian stage) Bajo de la Carpa Formation, Argentina. It is known from only a single dorsal vertebra, although a left humerus was formerly referred to this taxon, but it is now considered to belong to Neuquensaurus. The type (and only known) species is M. patagonicus, described by British paleontologist Richard Lydekker in 1893.

What we know

  • Named by Lydekker, 1893.
  • Fossils found in Argentina.

What we guess

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