Saltasaurus
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Saltasaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 70 Ma |
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| Life restoration | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Neosauropoda |
| Clade: | †Macronaria |
| Clade: | †Titanosauria |
| Family: | †Saltasauridae |
| Genus: |
†Saltasaurus Bonaparte & Powell, 1980 |
| Species: | †S. loricatus |
| Binomial name | |
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Saltasaurus loricatus Bonaparte & Powell, 1980 |
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Saltasaurus (which means "lizard from Salta") is a genus of titanosaurid sauropod 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 armour of bony plates embedded in its skin. Such small bony plates, called osteoderms, have since been found on other titanosaurids.
The fossils of Saltasaurus were excavated by José Fernando Bonaparte, Martín Vince and Juan C. Leal between 1975 and 1977 at the Estancia "El Brete". The find was in 1977 reported in the scientific literature.
Saltasaurus was named and described by Bonaparte and Jaime E. Powell, in 1980. The type species is Saltasaurus loricatus. Its generic name is derived from Salta Province, the region of north-west Argentina where the first fossils were recovered. The specific name means "protected by small armoured plates" in Latin.
The holotype, PVL 4017-92, was found in a layer of the Lecho Formation dating from the early Maastrichtian stage of the Upper Cretaceous period, about seventy million years old. It consists of a sacrum connected to two ilia. Under the inventory number PVL 4017 over two hundred additional fossils have been catalogued. These include rear skull elements, teeth, vertebrae of the neck, back, hip and tail, parts of the shoulder girdle and the pelvis, and limb bones — plus various pieces of armour. These bones represent a minimum of five individuals, two adults and three juveniles or subadults.
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