Genus
Valid Extinct

Aeolosaurus

Powell 1987
Etymology Reptile d'Eole

Aeolosaurus is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now South America. Like most sauropods, it would have been a quadrupedal herbivore with a long neck and tail. Aeolosaurus is well known for a titanosaur, as it is represented by the remains of several individuals belonging to at least two species. However, like most titanosaurs, no remains of the skull are known. The holotype of Aeolosaurus rionegrinus consists of a series of seven tail vertebrae, as well as parts of both forelimbs and the right hindlimb. It was discovered in the Angostura Colorada Formation in Argentina, which dates from the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous, about 83 to 74 million years ago. The species A. maximus was transferred over to the new genus Arrudatitan in 2021.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
6
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling, gregarious Terrestrial
Aeolosaurus
click to enlarge
A life reconstruction of the titanosaur Aeolosaurus rionegrinus in lateral view. The neck and head reconstructed based on its relative Rapetosaurus; the curvature of the tail is based on da Silva Vidal et al. 2020 (doi: 10.1080/08912963.2020.1745791) © Ornithopsis · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
Saurischia Unranked clade
Sauropodomorpha Unranked clade
Massopoda Unranked clade
Sauropodiformes Unranked clade
Sauropoda Unranked clade
Gravisauria Unranked clade
Eusauropoda Unranked clade
Neosauropoda Unranked clade
Macronaria Unranked clade
Titanosauriformes Unranked clade
Somphospondyli Unranked clade
Titanosauria Unranked clade
Lithostrotia Unranked clade
Aeolosaurini Unranked clade
Aeolosaurus Genus
Measurements
Length
17 m
Aeolosaurus maximus — min connu
18,1 m
Aeolosaurus rionegrinus — max connu
Mass
12 300 kg
Aeolosaurus maximus — min connu
14 700 kg
Aeolosaurus rionegrinus — max connu
Fossil sites 6 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇦🇷 Argentina
3
🇧🇷 Brazil
2
🇺🇾 Uruguay
1
Geological formations
Angostura Colorada
1
Lago Colhué Huapi
1
Allen
1
Marília
1
Asencio
1
Temporal distribution
Maastrichtian (72.2–66 Ma)
4
Campanian (83.6–72.2 Ma)
2
Species (2)
Aeolosaurus colhuehuapensis 84 Ma
Aeolosaurus rionegrinus 84 Ma
Images 2
Bibliography
Original description
J. E. Powell. 1987. The Late Cretaceous fauna of Los Alamitos, Patagonia, Argentina part VI—the titanosaurids. Revista del Museo Argentina de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia" e Instituto Nacional de Investigacion de las Ciencias Naturales: Paleontología 3(3):147-153
Bibliography (6)
M. Soto, F. Montenegro, and V. Mesa, D. Perea. 2022. Sauropod (Dinosauria: Saurischia) remains from the Mercedes and Asencio formations (sensu Bossi, 1966), Upper Cretaceous of Uruguay. Cretaceous Research 131:105072 DOI ↗
R. M. Santucci and A. C. d. Arruda-Campos. 2011. A new sauropod (Macronaria, Titanosauria) from the Adamantina Formation, Bauru Group, Upper Cretaceous of Brazil and the phylogenetic relationships of Aeolosaurini. Zootaxa 3085:1-33 DOI ↗
C. R. A. Candeiro. 2010. Record of the genus Aeolosaurus (Sauropoda, Titanosauria) in the Late Cretaceous of South America: paleogeographic implications. Estudios Geológicos 66(2):243-253 DOI ↗
G. Casal, R. D. Martínez, and M. Luna, J. C. Sciutto, M. C. Lamanna. 2007. Aeolosaurus colhuehuapensis sp. nov. (Sauropoda, Titanosauria) de la Formación Bajo Barreal, Cretácico Superior de Argentina [Aeolosaurus colhuehuapensis sp. nov. (Sauropoda, Titanosauria) from the Bajo Barreal Formation, Upper Cretaceous of Argentina]. Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia 10(1):53-62 DOI ↗
L. Salgado and R. A. Coria. 1993. El genero Aeolosaurus (Sauropoda, Titanosauridae) en la Formacion Allen (Campaniano-Maastrichtiano) de la Provincia de Rio Negro, Argentina [The genus Aeolosaurus (Sauropoda, Titanosauridae) in the Allen Formation (Campanian-Maastrichtian) of Rio Negro Province, Argentina]. Ameghiniana 30(2):119-128
J. E. Powell. 1987. The Late Cretaceous fauna of Los Alamitos, Patagonia, Argentina part VI—the titanosaurids. Revista del Museo Argentina de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia" e Instituto Nacional de Investigacion de las Ciencias Naturales: Paleontología 3(3):147-153