Open Paleo

Antarctosaurus

Huene, 1929 an-TARK-to-SAWR-us /ænˌtɑːrktoʊˈsɔːrəs/

From Greek 'antarktikos' meaning 'southern' (opposite of the north/arctic) and 'sauros' meaning 'lizard'; meaning 'southern lizard'

83.6–72.2 million years ago Campanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Antarctosaurus is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now South America. The type species, Antarctosaurus wichmannianus, and a second species, Antarctosaurus giganteus, were described by prolific German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene in 1929. Three additional species of Antarctosaurus have been named since then but later studies have considered them dubious or unlikely to pertain to the genus.

Diagnosis

  1. Skull recalls Diplodocus but very tall behind; snout extremely wide, mandibular border transversely straight
  2. Peg-shaped teeth similar to Diplodocus; lower jaw forms right angles at both anterior corners
  3. Supraoccipital forms cone behind parietals; long basipterygoid processes
  4. Quadrate ham-shaped; extraordinarily large orbit positioned far back and high
  5. Posterior cervical vertebrae flat, wide, deeply furrowed on flanks with coarse mesh interior
  6. Scapula slender with very tall deltoid process projecting at right angle
  7. Femur straight and slender with highly vaulted head; fourth trochanter above midpoint
  8. Tibia with both articular terminations very thick; tibial tuberosity prominent but relatively smaller than Titanosaurus

Species

Antarctosaurus wichmannianus Huene, 1929

Type species

Named for Ricardo Wichmann, the geologist who discovered the fossil remains in 1912.

Holotype
MACN 6904 , Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’
Material
Skull with occipital region and cranial vault, left scapula, right humerus, ulna, radius, metacarpals, left femur (139 cm), left tibia (93 cm), left fibula (91 cm), astragalus, calcaneus, metatarsals, foot phalanges
Horizon
Anacleto Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality
opposite General Roca, Río Negro, Argentina

References

  1. Huene, F. V. (1927). Short review of the present knowledge of the Sauropoda. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 9(1): 121-126. huene1927b
  2. Huene, F. V. (1929). Los saurisquios y ornitisquios del Cretáceo Argentino [The Saurischians and Ornithischians of the Argentine Cretaceous]. Anales del Museo de La Plata, series 2 3: 1-196.

    In Spanish.

    huene1929a
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate.

    jones2026b