Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
280 / Mesozoic
Saltasaurus
Saltasaurus loricatus
Small bony plates embedded in the skin showed that some titanosaurs carried armor.
View original image · 1536 × 1024- Time range
- About 72–66 million years ago
- Final stage
- End of the Cretaceous
- Geographic range
- Semi-arid floodplains · Argentina
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Saltasaurus?
Saltasaurus (Saltasaurus loricatus) was an extinct organism known from About 72–66 million years ago, with a range in Semi-arid floodplains · Argentina.
Life and ecology
Saltasaurus was a relatively compact sauropod that browsed with a long neck and nested communally in seasonal floodplain landscapes.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Saltasaurus disappear?
Non-avian dinosaurs ended with the end-Cretaceous impact; the record of Saltasaurus does not establish that it survived until that event.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Saltasaurus?
Skeletons, osteoderms and associated nesting grounds document its build, armor and reproduction.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS