Description | Amargasaurus ("La Amarga lizard") is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous epoch (129.4–122.46 mya) of what is now Argentina. The only known skeleton was discovered in 1984 and is virtually complete, including a fragmentary skull, making Amargasaurus one of the best-known sauropods of its epoch. Amargasaurus was first described in 1991 and contains a single known species, Amargasaurus cazaui. It was a large animal, but small for a sauropod, reaching 9 to 10 meters (30 to 33 feet) in length. Most distinctively, it sported two parallel rows of tall spines down its neck and back, taller than in any other known sauropod. In life, these spines most likely could have stuck out of the body as solitary structures that supported a keratinous sheath. An alternate hypothesis, now less favored, postulates that they could have formed a scaffold supporting a skin sail. They might have been used for display, combat, or defense.
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Source Data | |
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Rank | species |
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Taxonomy (GBIF) | Life : Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Dinosauria : Dicraeosauridae : Amargasaurus : Amargasaurus cazaui |
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Taxonomy (PBDB) | Life : Animalia : Chordata : Saurischia : Dicraeosauridae : Amargasaurus : Amargasaurus cazaui |
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Taxonomic Status (GBIF) | accepted |
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Classification (PBDB,GBIF) | |
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Generic Name | Amargasaurus |
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Scientific Name | Amargasaurus cazaui Salgado & Bonaparte, 1991 |
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Name Published In | Salgado, Leonardo & José F. Bonaparte. 1991. Un nuevo sauropodo Dicraeosauridae, Amargasaurus cazaui gen. et sp. nov. de la Formación La Amarga, Neocomiano de la Provincia del Neuquén, Argentina. Ameghiniana 28(3-4): 333-346. |
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Opinions (PBDB) | Name | Rank | Opinion | Evidence | Author |
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Amargasaurus cazaui | species | belongs to Amargasaurus | stated without evidence | Salgado and Bonaparte, 1991 | Amargasaurus cazaui | species | belongs to Amargasaurus | stated with evidence | Bonaparte, 1996 | Amargasaurus cazaui | species | belongs to Amargasaurus | stated without evidence | Novas, 1997 | Amargasaurus cazaui | species | belongs to Amargasaurus | stated with evidence | Wilson, 2002 | Amargasaurus cazaui | species | belongs to Amargasaurus | stated without evidence | Ruiz-Omeñaca and Canudo, 2003 | Amargasaurus cazaui | species | belongs to Amargasaurus | stated with evidence | Upchurch et al., 2004 | Amargasaurus cazaui | species | belongs to Amargasaurus | stated without evidence | Gallina and Apesteguía, 2005 | Amargasaurus cazaui | species | belongs to Amargasaurus | stated with evidence | Ibiricu et al., 2012 | Amargasaurus cazaui | species | belongs to Amargasaurus | stated without evidence | Grellet-Tinner et al., 2012 |
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Status (PBDB) | extinct |
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Taxon Size (PBDB) | 1 |
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First Recorded Appearance | 129 - 125 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous |
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Last Recorded Appearance | 129 - 125 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous |
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Environment | terrestrial (based on Sauropoda) |
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Motility | actively mobile (based on Sauropoda) |
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Diet | herbivore (based on Sauropoda) |
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Reproduction | oviparous, dispersal=direct/internal,mobile (based on Sauropoda) |
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Ontogeny | accretion,modification of parts (based on Sauropoda) |
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Taphonomy | hydroxylapatite,compact or dense,thick (based on Sauropoda) |
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Primary Reference (PBDB) | L. Salgado and J. F. Bonaparte. 1991. Un nuevo saurópodo Dicraeosauridae, Amargasaurus cazaui gen. et sp. nov., de la Formación La Amarga, Neocomiano de la provincia del Neuquén, Argentina [Amargasaurus cazaui gen. et sp. nov., a new dicraeosaurid sauropod from the La Amarga Formation, Neocomian of Neuquén province, Argentina]. Ameghiniana 28(3-4):333-346 |
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Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amargasaurus_cazaui |
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Salgado L., Bonaparte J. F. (1991) Un nuevo saurópodo Dicraeosauridae, Amargasaurus cazaui gen. et sp. nov., de la Formación La Amarga, Neocomiano de la provincia del Neuquén, Argentina [Amargasaurus cazaui gen. et sp. nov., a new dicraeosaurid sauropod from the La Amarga Formation, Neocomian of Neuquén province, Argentina], Ameghiniana 28 3-4, 333-346 |
Bonaparte J. F. (1984) I dinosauri dell’Argentina [, Sulle Orme dei Dinosauri, 125-143 |
Calvo J. O., Salgado L. (1995) Rebbachisaurus tessonei sp. nov. a new Sauropoda from the Albian-Cenomanian of Argentina; new evidence on the origin of the Diplodocidae, GAIA 11, 13-33 |
Bonaparte J. F. (1996) Cretaceous tetrapods of Argentina, Münchner Geowissenschaften Abhandlungen 30, 73-130 |
Novas F. E. (1997) South American dinosaurs, Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs, 678-689 |
Wilson J. A. (2002) Sauropod dinosaur phylogeny: critique and cladistic analysis, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 136, 217-276 |
Ruiz-Omeñaca J. I., Canudo J. I. (2003) Dinosaurios (Saurischia, Ornithischia) en el Barremiense (Cretácico Inferior) de la península Ibérica [Dinosaurs (Saurischia, Ornithischia) in the Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) of the Iberian peninsula], Dinosaurios y Otros Reptiles Mesozóicos de España, 269-312 |
Upchurch P., Barrett P. M., et al (2004) Sauropoda, The Dinosauria (2nd edition). University of California Press, Berkeley, 259-322 |
Gallina P. A., Apesteguía S. (2005) Cathartesaura anaerobica gen. et sp. nov., a new rebbachisaurid (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Huincul Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Río Negro, Argentina, Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, nuevo serie 7 2, 153-166 |
Apesteguía S. (2007) The sauropod diversity of the La Amarga Formation (Barremian), Neuquén (Argentina), Gondwana Research 12, 533-546 doi:10.1016/j.gr.2007.04.007 |
González Riga B. J., Astini R. A. (2007) Preservation of large titanosaur sauropods in overbank fluvial facies: a case study in the Cretaceous of Argentina, Journal of South American Earth Sciences 23, 290-303 |
Calvo J. O., Porfiri J. D. (2010) Panamericansaurus schroederi gen. nov. sp. nov. Un nuevo Sauropoda (Titanosauridae-Aeolosaurini) de la Provincia del Neuquén, Cretácico Superior de Patagonia, Argentina [Panamericansaurus schroederi gen. nov. sp. nov. A new Sauropoda (Titanosauridae-Aeolosaurini) from Neuquén Province, Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina], Brazilian Geographical Journal: Geosciences and Humanities Research Medium 1, 100-115 |
Grellet-Tinner G., Fiorelli L. E., et al (2012) Water vapor conductance of the Lower Cretaceous dinosaurian eggs from Sanagasta, La Rioja, Argentina: paleobiological and paleoecological implications for South American faveoloolithid and megaloolithid eggs, Palaios 27, 35-47 doi:10.2110/palo.2011.p11-061r |
Ibiricu L. M., Casal G. A., et al (2012) The southernmost records of Rebbachisauridae (Sauropoda: Diplodocoidea), from early Late Cretaceous deposits in central Patagonia, Cretaceous Research 34, 220-232 |
Pereda-Suberbiola X., Galton P. M., et al (2013) A plated dinosaur (Ornithischia, Stegosauria) from the Early Cretaceous of Argentina, South America: an evaluation, Alcheringa 37 1, 65-78 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03115518.2012.702531 |
Tschopp E., Mateus O. (2013) The skull and neck of a new flagellicaudatan sauropod from the Morrison Formation and its implication for the evolution and ontogeny of diplodocid dinosaurs, Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 11 7, 853-888 doi:10.1080/14772019.2012.746589 |
Mocho P., Royo-Torres R., et al (2014) Phylogenetic reassessment of Lourinhasaurus alenquerensis, a basal Macronaria (Sauropoda) from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 170, 875-916 doi:10.1111/zoj.12113 |
Gallina P. A., Apesteguía S., et al (2019) A new long-spined dinosaur from Patagonia sheds light on sauropod defense system, Scientific Reports 9, 1392:1-10 doi:10.1038/s41598-018-37943-3 |
L. Salgado, J. F. Bonaparte (1991) Un nuevo saurópodo Dicraeosauridae, Amargasaurus cazaui gen. et sp. nov., de la Formación La Amarga, Neocomiano de la provincia del Neuquén, Argentina [Amargasaurus cazaui gen. et sp. nov., a new dicraeosaurid sauropod from the La Amarga Formation, Neocom: Ameghiniana 3-4: 333--346 - via Catalogue of Life |
L. M. Ibiricu, G. A. Casal, M. C. Lamanna, R. D. Martínez, J. D. Harris, K. J. Lacovara (2012) The southernmost records of Rebbachisauridae (Sauropoda: Diplodocoidea), from early Late Cretaceous deposits in central Patagonia: Cretaceous Research: 220--232 - via Catalogue of Life |