Open Paleo

Dreadnoughtus

Lacovara et al., 2014 dred-NAW-tus

Named after the dreadnought class of battleships, from Old English meaning 'fears nothing', in reference to the animal's immense size which would have made it largely invulnerable to predators.

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

Dreadnoughtus is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur containing a single species, Dreadnoughtus schrani. It is known from two partial skeletons discovered in Upper Cretaceous (Campanian to Maastrichtian, approximately 76-70 million years ago) rocks of the Cerro Fortaleza Formation in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. It is one of the largest terrestrial vertebrates known from reasonably complete remains, with the immature type specimen measuring 26 meters (85 ft) in total body length and weighing up to 48-49 metric tons (53-54 short tons).

Diagnosis

  1. First caudal centrum with axial ventral keel.
  2. Anterior caudal neural spines with extensively subdivided pneumatocoel between spinoprezygapophyseal and spinopostzygapophyseal laminae.
  3. Anterior caudal neural spines with hypertrophied prespinal and postspinal laminae.
  4. Middle caudal neural spines with triangular anterodorsal process extending well beyond anterior margin of centrum.
  5. Anterior haemal arches with paddle-shaped distal expansion.
  6. Posterodorsally-anteroventrally oriented ridge on medial surface of anterior end of scapular blade.

Species

Dreadnoughtus schrani Lacovara et al., 2014

Type species

Named for American entrepreneur Adam Schran, in recognition of financial support of the expedition that recovered the holotype.

Holotype
MPM-PV 1156 , Museo Padre Molina, Rio Gallegos
Material
Partially articulated partial skeleton: maxilla fragment, tooth, posterior cervical vertebra, cervical ribs, multiple dorsal vertebrae and ribs, sacrum, 32 caudal vertebrae and 18 haemal arches, left pectoral girdle and forelimb minus manus, both sternal plates, all pelvic elements, left hind limb lacking pes, right tibia, metatarsals I and II, and pedal ungual I.
Horizon
Cerro Fortaleza Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality
Cerro Fortaleza, east bank of the Río La Leona, Santa Cruz, Argentina

References

  1. Lacovara, K. J.; Lamanna, M. C.; Ibiricu, L. M.; Poole, J. C.; Schroeter, E. R.; Ullmann, P. V.; Voegele, K. K.; Boles, Z. M.; Carter, A. M.; Fowler, E. K.; Egerton, V. M.; Moyer, A. E.; Coughenour, C. L.; Schein, J. P.; Harris, J. D.; Martínez, R. D.; Novas, F. E. (2014). A Gigantic, Exceptionally Complete Titanosaurian Sauropod Dinosaur from Southern Patagonia, Argentina. Scientific Reports 4(1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/srep06196 lacovara2014a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate.

    jones2026b