Patagotitan
PAT-ah-go-TIE-tan
The Patagotitan is a titanosaurian sauropod, coming in at around 50 tons in weight and around 30m in length. Roaming the earth in the Cretaceous period they had a long lifespan. They were named after the South American region in which they were found.
Discovery
When the holotype was first discovered, Patagotitan became the largest sauropod ever found at the time. The first evidence of Patagotitan was a femur fragment found by Aurelio Hernandez. This led to in-depth expeditions in the Cerro Barcino Formation in Argentina, where fossils were collected between 2012-2015.
Palaeoecology
The Patagotitan co-habited with different sauropod and herbivore groups, where they browsed tall trees and low-growing plants in search of food. They also nested in groups, with 15-40 eggs per clutch. They lived in a warm period with semi-arid periods, traversing flood plains and meandering rivers, all against a backdrop of active volcanoes.
Information
- Era
- Early Cretaceous
- Family
- Titanosauria
- Genus
- Patagotitan
- Height
- 13.4M
- Length
- 30M
- Weight
- 50T
- Diet
- Tall Paleobotany
- Egg batch size
- 1 - 1
