Puertasaurus in the context of "Titanosaur"

Play Trivia Questions online!

or

Skip to study material about Puertasaurus in the context of "Titanosaur"

Ad spacer

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<

👉 Puertasaurus in the context of Titanosaur

Titanosaurs (or titanosaurians; members of the group Titanosauria) were a diverse group of sauropod dinosaurs, including genera from every continent. The titanosaurs were the last surviving group of long-necked sauropods, with taxa still thriving at the time of the extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous. This group includes some of the largest land animals known to have ever existed, such as Patagotitan, estimated at 37 m (121 ft) long with a mass of 69 tonnes (76 tons), and the comparably-sized Argentinosaurus and Puertasaurus from the same region.

The group's name alludes to the mythological Titans of ancient Greek mythology, via the type genus (now considered a nomen dubium) Titanosaurus. Together with the brachiosaurids and relatives, titanosaurs make up the larger sauropod clade Titanosauriformes. Titanosaurs have long been a poorly-known group, and the relationships between titanosaur species are still not well-understood.

↓ Explore More Topics
In this Dossier

Puertasaurus in the context of Alamosaurus

Alamosaurus (/ˌæləmˈsɔːrəs/; meaning "Ojo Alamo lizard") is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaurs containing a single known species, Alamosaurus sanjuanensis, from the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous period in what is now southwestern North America. It is one of the few known titanosaurs to have inhabited North America after the nearly 30-million-year absence of sauropods from the North American fossil record ("sauropod hiatus") and probably represents an immigrant from South America.

Adults would have measured around 26 metres (85 ft) long, 5 metres (16 ft) tall at the shoulder and weighed up to 30–35 tonnes (33–39 short tons), though some specimens indicate a larger body size. Isolated vertebrae and limb bones suggest that it could have reached sizes comparable to Argentinosaurus and Puertasaurus, which would make it the absolute largest dinosaur known from North America. Its fossils have been recovered from a variety of rock formations spanning the Maastrichtian age. Specimens of a juvenile Alamosaurus sanjuanensis have been recovered from only a few meters below the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary in Texas, with the Naashoibito Member in New Mexico where the holotype was found in also being constrained to the latest Maastrichtian, making it among the last surviving non-avian dinosaur species.

↑ Return to Menu