Genus

Valid Extinct

Dreadnoughtus

Lacovara et al. 2014

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 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 metres (85 ft) in total body length and weighing up to 48–49 metric tons.

Temporal range

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

Paleogene

Neogene

252 201 145 66 0 Ma

PBDB occurrences

Group

Dinosaures

Herbivore Ground dwelling, gregarious Terrestrial

click to enlarge

Skeletal reconstruction of Dreadnoughtus schrani. Human silhouette is Gunnar Bivens. © Gunnar Bivens · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia

PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗

Classification

Dinosauria Unranked clade

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Saurischia Unranked clade

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Sauropodomorpha Unranked clade

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Massopoda Unranked clade

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Sauropodiformes Unranked clade

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Sauropoda Unranked clade

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Gravisauria Unranked clade

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Eusauropoda Unranked clade

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Neosauropoda Unranked clade

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Macronaria Unranked clade

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Titanosauriformes Unranked clade

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Somphospondyli Unranked clade

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Titanosauria Unranked clade

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Eutitanosauria Unranked clade

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Dreadnoughtus Genus

Measurements

Length

26 m ⓘ

24 m ⓘ

Dreadnoughtus schrani

Mass

35 000 kg ⓘ

Dreadnoughtus schrani

Did you know?

Named in 2014, its name recalls the “Dreadnought” battleships and means “fears nothing”: fully grown, its size protected it from almost every predator.
Its skeleton is exceptionally complete for a giant titanosaur: about 70% of the body's bone types (excluding the skull) are represented.
Analysis of its bones shows that the individual had not finished growing when it died.
Its weight, first estimated at 59 tonnes, was sharply revised downward by later studies, to around 30 tonnes.

Fossil sites 2 geolocated sites

Distribution

Top countries

🇦🇷 Argentina

Geological formations

Cerro Fortaleza

Temporal distribution

Campanian (83.6–72.2 Ma)

Species (1)

Dreadnoughtus schrani 84 Ma

Images 2

Bibliography

Original description

K. J. Lacovara, M. C. Lamanna, and L. M. Ibiricu, J. C. Poole, E. R. Schroeter, P. V. Ullmann, K. K. Voegele, Z. M. Boles, A. M. Carter, E. K. Fowler, V. M. Egerton, A. E. Moyer, C. L. Coughenour, J. P. Schein, J. D. Harris, R. D. Martínez, F. E. Novas. 2014. A gigantic, exceptionally complete titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from southern Patagonia, Argentina. Scientific Reports 4:6196:1-9 DOI ↗

Bibliography (2)

F. L. Agnolín, G. Álvarez Herrera, and M. Aranciaga Rolando, M. Motta, S. Rozadilla, L. Verdiquio, J. S. D.'Angelo, D. Moyano-Paz, A. N. Varela, J. Sterli, S. Bogan, S. Miner, A. M. Rodríguez, G. Munoz, M. P. Isasi , F. E. Novas. 2024. Fossil vertebrates from the Cerro Fortaleza Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. Cretaceous Research 154:105735:1-33 DOI ↗

Dreadnoughtus

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