Outline: a typical early sauropodomorph
Riojasaurus
"La Rioja lizard"
- Lived
- 227 to 206 million years ago, Late Triassic
- Length
- about 5.2 m (17 ft)
- Group
- Early sauropodomorphs, Riojasauridae
- Found in
- Argentina
- Named by
- Bonaparte 1969
Size comparison
To scale
Scale in metersOutline: typical early sauropodomorph shape
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
220 million years ago
Field notes
About Riojasaurus
What it was like
Riojasaurus was a large plant eater with a long neck, a small head and a heavy body. It was one of the biggest land animals of its time. It was about 5 meters (17 feet) long. It probably walked on all fours.
Its world
It lived in the Late Triassic, in what is now Argentina. It comes from the Los Colorados Formation, where it shared the land with the plant eaters Coloradisaurus and Lessemsaurus and the predator Zupaysaurus.
How it was found
Bonaparte named Riojasaurus in 1969. Many skeletons have been found, making it one of the best known Triassic dinosaurs from South America.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
Close relatives
Other members of Riojasauridae
Sources: WikidataNamed in: J. F. Bonaparte. 1969. Dos nuevas "faunas" de reptiles triasicos de Argentina [Two new reptilian "faunas" of the Argentine Triassic]. Gondwana Stratigraphy (IUGS Symposium, Buenos Aires) 2:283-306