Open Paleo

Saltasaurus

Bonaparte & Powell, 1980 SAHL-tah-SAWR-us

Named after Salta Province in northwestern Argentina, where the fossils were found, combined with Greek 'sauros' (lizard), meaning 'lizard from Salta'.

72.2–66.0 million years ago Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Saltasaurus is a genus of saltasaurid dinosaur of the Late Cretaceous period of Argentina. Small among sauropods, though still heavy by the standards of modern creatures, Saltasaurus was characterized by a short neck and stubby limbs. It was the first genus of sauropod known to possess armor of bony plates embedded in its skin. Such small bony plates, called osteoderms, have since been found on other titanosaurians.

Species

Saltasaurus loricatus Bonaparte & Powell, 1980

Type species

From Latin 'loricatus' meaning 'protected by armor' or 'clad in mail', referring to the bony osteoderms embedded in the skin of this titanosaur.

Holotype
PVL 4017-92 , Colección de Paleontologia de Vertebrados de la Fundación Instituto Miguel Lillo
Horizon
middle Lecho Formation, Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous , 72.2–66.0 million years ago
Locality
El Brete, Salta, Argentina All described material comes from a single quarry about 36 m² in area. Hendrickx and colleagues (2024) place it 2.6 km south of the El Brete Estancia in their text and 2.6 km north of it in a figure caption.

References

  1. Bonaparte, J. F.; Powell, J. E. (1980). A continental assemblage of tetrapods from the Upper Cretaceous beds of El Brete, northwestern Argentina (Sauropoda-Coelurosauria-Carnosauria-Aves). Mémoires de la Société Géologique de France, Nouvelle Série 139: 19-28. bonaparte1980a
  2. Hendrickx, C.; Cerroni, M. A.; Agnolín, F. L.; Catalano, S.; Ribeiro, C. F.; Delcourt, R. (2024). Osteology, relationship, and feeding ecology of the theropod dinosaur Noasaurus leali, from the Late Cretaceous of North-Western Argentina. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 202(4): zlae150. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae150

    Source of the quarry coordinate; places the El Brete bone bed 22 m above the base of the Lecho Formation.

    hendrickx2024a
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate, and the appearance features.

    jones2026b