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Argentinosaurus

 
Argentinosaurus

 
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Argentinosaurus
 
 
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Argentinosaurus is a genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of sauropod dinosaur
Dinosaur

Dinosaurs were the dominant vertebrate animals of Landform ecosystems for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic Period until the end of the Cretaceous Period , when most of them became extinct in the Cretaceous?Tertiary extinction event....
 first discovered by Guillermo Heredia in Argentina
Argentina

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is a country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city....
. The generic name means "silver
Silver

Silver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal....
 lizard
Lizard

Lizards are a large and widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 5,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains....
", in reference to the country
Country

Country may refer to the territory of a state, or to a smaller, or former, political division of a geographical region. In another meaning of the word, the country is also a term used to refer to rural areas....
 in which it was discovered ("Argentina" is derived from the Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 argentum). The dinosaur lived on the island continent of South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
 around 100 million years ago, during the middle of the Cretaceous
Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide, is a geologic period from circa to million years ago . In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows on the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period....
 Period.

much of Argentinosaurus has been recovered: just some back vertebrae, tibia
Tibia

The tibia, shinbone, or shankbone is the larger and stronger of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates and connects the knee with the ankle bones....
, fragmentary ribs, and sacrum
Sacrum

The sacrum is a large, triangular bone at the base of the vertebral column and at the upper and back part of the pelvic cavity, where it is inserted like a wedge between the two hip bones....
.






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Encyclopedia


Argentinosaurus is a genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of sauropod dinosaur
Dinosaur

Dinosaurs were the dominant vertebrate animals of Landform ecosystems for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic Period until the end of the Cretaceous Period , when most of them became extinct in the Cretaceous?Tertiary extinction event....
 first discovered by Guillermo Heredia in Argentina
Argentina

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is a country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city....
. The generic name means "silver
Silver

Silver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal....
 lizard
Lizard

Lizards are a large and widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 5,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains....
", in reference to the country
Country

Country may refer to the territory of a state, or to a smaller, or former, political division of a geographical region. In another meaning of the word, the country is also a term used to refer to rural areas....
 in which it was discovered ("Argentina" is derived from the Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 argentum). The dinosaur lived on the island continent of South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
 around 100 million years ago, during the middle of the Cretaceous
Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide, is a geologic period from circa to million years ago . In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows on the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period....
 Period.

Description

Not much of Argentinosaurus has been recovered: just some back vertebrae, tibia
Tibia

The tibia, shinbone, or shankbone is the larger and stronger of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates and connects the knee with the ankle bones....
, fragmentary ribs, and sacrum
Sacrum

The sacrum is a large, triangular bone at the base of the vertebral column and at the upper and back part of the pelvic cavity, where it is inserted like a wedge between the two hip bones....
. One vertebra
Vertebra

A vertebra is an individual bone in the flexible column that defines vertebrate animals. The vertebral column encases and protects the spinal cord, which runs from the base of the cranium down the dorsal side of the animal until reaching the pelvis....
 had a length of 1.3 meters and the tibia
Tibia

The tibia, shinbone, or shankbone is the larger and stronger of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates and connects the knee with the ankle bones....
 was about 155 centimeters (58 inches). However, the spectacular proportions of these bones and comparisons with other sauropod relatives allow paleontologists to estimate the size of the animal
Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the Kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life....
.

Early reconstructions estimated Argentinosaurus at up to in length and with a weight of up to , but were hindered by the lack of relatively complete titanosaurs with which to compare the fragmentary material. The reconstruction of Saltasaurus
Saltasaurus

Saltasaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur of the Late Cretaceous Period . Relatively small among sauropods, though still massive by human standards, it was characterized by a diplodocid-like head and was the first discovered with small bony plates embedded in its skin....
 and Opisthocoelicaudia
Opisthocoelicaudia

Opisthocoelicaudia was a 39 foot-long sauropod of the late Cretaceous discovered in Mongolia in 1965 by Poland and Mongolian scientists in the Gobi Desert ....
 in 1997, and Rapetosaurus
Rapetosaurus

Rapetosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in Madagascar from 70 to 65 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous Period ....
 in 2001 help clarify the body proportions of titanosaurs, and new estimates resulted in a considerably smaller Argentinosaurus: From in length.. Weight estimates are less common, but Mazzetta et al. (2004) provide a range of , and consider to be the most likely, making it the heaviest sauropod known from good material.

Vast wings on the vertebrae suited the attachment of massive muscles.

Classification and history

The type species of Argentinosaurus, A. huinculensis, was described and published (by the Argentinian palaeontologists José F. Bonaparte and Rodolfo Coria
Rodolfo Coria

Dr. Rodolfo Coria is an Argentina paleontology and current director of the Museo Carmen Funes in Plaza Huincul, Neuqu?n Province, Argentina. He is best known for having directed the field study and co-naming of the Argentinosaurus and the Giganotosaurus , among other landmark South American dinosaurs....
) in 1993. Its more specific time-frame within the Cretaceous is the Albian to Cenomanian epochs, 112.2 to 93.5 million years ago
Mya (unit)

In astronomy, geology, and paleontology, mya or "m.y.a." is an abbreviation for "million years ago". Like the related unit bya, mya is traditionally written in lower case....
. The fossil
Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or trace fossil of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous Rock formations and sedimentary rock layers is known as the fossil record....
 discovery site is in the Río Limay Formation in Neuquén Province
Neuquén Province

Neuqu?n is a Provinces of Argentina of Argentina, located in the west of the country, at the northern end of Patagonia. It borders Mendoza Province to the north, Rio Negro Province to the southeast, and Chile to the west....
, Argentina
Argentina

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is a country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city....
.

Museum exhibits

Argentinosaurus is featured prominently in the permanent exhibition Giants of the Mesozoic at Fernbank Museum of Natural History
Fernbank Museum of Natural History

Fernbank Museum of Natural History, in Atlanta, Georgia, presents exhibitions and programming about natural history that is meant to entertain as well as educate the public....
 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. This display depicts a hypothetical encounter between Argentinosaurus and the carnivorous theropod dinosaur Giganotosaurus
Giganotosaurus

Giganotosaurus is a genus of carcharodontosaurid dinosaur that lived 93 to 89 million years ago during the Turonian faunal stage of the Late Cretaceous Period ....
. Contemporary fossils of Cretaceous Period plants and animals are included in the exhibition, including two species of pterosaurs, providing a snapshot of a prehistoric ecosystem in what is now the modern Patagonia region of Argentina. At long, this skeletal reconstruction represents the largest dinosaur mount ever to be assembled.

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