Antarctosaurus
ant-ARK-toh-SORE-us
"southern lizard"
- Lived
- 90 to 72 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Length
- about 18 m (59 ft)
- Group
- Sauropods
- Found in
- Argentina
- Named by
- Huene 1927
Size comparison
To scale
Scale in metersOutline: typical sauropod shape
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
80 million years ago
Habitat
The Argentine rocks linked to its original remains record river floodplains and shallow lakes. Dinosaurs recorded from the Anacleto Formation include Neuquensaurus, Aucasaurus and Aerosteon.
Field notes
About Antarctosaurus
What it was like
Antarctosaurus was a titanosaur, one of the long-necked plant eaters that ruled the southern continents late in the age of dinosaurs. It may have been about 18 meters (59 feet) long. Its lower jaw was square at the front, a sign that it cropped plants in wide mouthfuls close to the ground.
Its world
It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Its best bones come from Argentina, including the Anacleto Formation. Other bones from Brazil, Uruguay and India have been linked to it, but many scientists doubt that they belong to the same animal.
How it was found
Huene named Antarctosaurus. Its name refers to the south, not to Antarctica. The original bones may not all come from one animal, and several extra species named later are now doubted, so much about this dinosaur is still uncertain.
Field gallery
More views of Antarctosaurus
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Antarctosaurus.
The evidence
The science behind Antarctosaurus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- The original material includes parts of the skull and lower jaw, along with bones from the body and limbs.
- The lower jaw has a broad, square front, with teeth crowded toward its tip.
Borrowed from relatives
- Bonitasaura provides a comparison for the square jaw and the arrangement of teeth at the front of the mouth.
- Missing parts of the skull are compared with other titanosaurs, including Nemegtosaurus.
Still unknown
- Whether all the original bones belong to the same kind of dinosaur.
- Which later finds truly belong to Antarctosaurus.
- Its skin covering and color.
Discovery timeline
- 1927Named itHuene
- 2011Close relativeGallina & Apesteguía
- 2011New findWILSON, BARRETT & CARRANO
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Antarctosaurus
Named it
Named Antarctosaurus from incomplete sauropod remains, including skull and jaw bones from Argentina.
Short review of the present knowledge of the Sauropoda. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 9: 121-126
No link available
Close relative
Described the square jaw of Bonitasaura and compared it with Antarctosaurus, showing that this jaw shape occurs in titanosaurs.
Cranial Anatomy and Phylogenetic Position of the Titanosaurian SauropodBonitasaura salgadoi. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 56: 45-60
Read the paper : Cranial Anatomy and Phylogenetic Position of the Titanosaurian SauropodBonitasaura salgadoi (opens in a new tab)New find
Described an associated skeleton of Jainosaurus, the dinosaur once named Antarctosaurus septentrionalis, clarifying the anatomy of the Indian animal.
An associated partial skeleton of Jainosaurus cf. septentrionalis (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Late Cretaceous of Chhota Simla, Central India. Palaeontology 54: 981-998
Read the paper : An associated partial skeleton of Jainosaurus cf. septentrionalis (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Late Cretaceous of Chhota Simla, Central India (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Lithostrotia
Sources: Wikidata