Question 1

How do you say Saltasaurus?

Accepted Answer

Saltasaurus is pronounced SALT-a-sore-us. Break it into four parts: SALT, then ah, then sore, then us. The first syllable, SALT, gets the most stress, just like the word 'salt' you put on food. The NHM London confirms this pronunciation as the standard one used by paleontologists.

Question 2

What does Saltasaurus mean?

Accepted Answer

Saltasaurus means 'lizard from Salta.' The name combines Salta, the province in northwestern Argentina where fossils were found, with the Greek word 'sauros' meaning lizard. The species name 'loricatus' adds another layer, coming from the Latin word for armor, referencing the bony plates embedded in its skin.

Question 3

How big was Saltasaurus?

Accepted Answer

Saltasaurus was about 40 feet long, roughly the length of a city bus, and weighed around 7 tons, heavier than two large African bull elephants. For a sauropod it was actually on the smaller side, especially compared to giants like Argentinosaurus which could reach 100 feet. But 7 tons is still absolutely enormous by any other standard.

Question 4

Did Saltasaurus have armor?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and that is exactly what made it famous. Saltasaurus was the first sauropod ever discovered with bony armor plates called osteoderms embedded in its skin. It had two types: large oval plates up to 4 inches wide and thousands of tiny pebble-like nodules packed between them. This discovery in 1980 completely surprised paleontologists who had assumed large long-necked dinosaurs had no armor at all.

Question 5

When did Saltasaurus live?

Accepted Answer

Saltasaurus lived during the Late Cretaceous period, approximately 72 to 66 million years ago. This means it was one of the last surviving sauropod dinosaurs on Earth. It went extinct along with all non-avian dinosaurs when the asteroid struck at the end of the Cretaceous period 66 million years ago.

Question 6

Where did Saltasaurus live?

Accepted Answer

Saltasaurus lived in what is now northwestern Argentina, specifically in the region that is today Salta Province. During the Late Cretaceous this area was a warm, seasonally dry landscape of floodplains and forests. Fossils were found in the Lecho Formation, a rock unit in that region that dates to the very end of the Cretaceous.

Question 7

What did Saltasaurus eat?

Accepted Answer

Saltasaurus was a herbivore, meaning it ate only plants. It had small pencil-shaped teeth good for stripping leaves and vegetation rather than chewing. Scientists believe it was likely a mid-level browser, feeding on shrubs, low branches, and ground ferns. Like other sauropods it probably swallowed stones called gastroliths to help grind up tough plant material in its stomach.

Question 8

Who discovered Saltasaurus?

Accepted Answer

Saltasaurus was discovered and described by Argentine paleontologists José Bonaparte and Jaime Powell in 1980. Bonaparte is one of the most celebrated dinosaur hunters in South American history and described dozens of important species. The fossils came from the Lecho Formation in Salta Province, Argentina, and the discovery was immediately recognized as a major scientific breakthrough.

Question 9

Was Saltasaurus dangerous?

Accepted Answer

Saltasaurus was a plant-eater and posed no direct threat to other animals as a predator. However it was far from defenseless. Its bony skin armor would have made it very difficult for predators to bite through, and at 7 tons it was massive enough to cause serious injury just by moving. Large abelisaurid predators roamed the same environment, so Saltasaurus almost certainly needed that armor.

Question 10

How is Saltasaurus related to other sauropods?

Accepted Answer

Saltasaurus belongs to Titanosauria, the most successful and widespread group of sauropods, which spread to every continent on Earth by the end of the Cretaceous. Within titanosaurs it sits in its own family, Saltasauridae. Its closest relatives include other armored titanosaurs from South America. Famous sauropods like Brachiosaurus and Diplodocus are more distantly related.

Question 11

Did Saltasaurus lay eggs?

Accepted Answer

Yes, like all dinosaurs Saltasaurus laid eggs. While no confirmed Saltasaurus eggs have been found, closely related titanosaurs left behind enormous nesting colonies in Argentina. The most famous site, Auca Mahuevo in Neuquen Province, contained thousands of softball-sized eggs with fossilized embryos inside, some showing osteoderm skin identical to that of adult titanosaurs like Saltasaurus.

Question 12

Is Saltasaurus a titanosaur?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Saltasaurus is a titanosaur, one of the most successful groups of dinosaurs that ever lived. Titanosaurs were a diverse group of long-necked plant-eating sauropods that dominated the Cretaceous period on every continent. Saltasaurus is actually the animal that gave its name to the family Saltasauridae, which is a subgroup within the broader titanosaur family tree.

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