Saltasauridae
Armored herbivorous sauropods from the Upper Cretaceous.
Saltasauridae is a family of armored herbivorous sauropods from the Upper Cretaceous, named after the Salta region of Argentina where the first recognized member, Saltasaurus, was discovered in 1980. They are known from fossils found across South America, Africa, Asia, North America, and possibly Europe, and are characterized by procoelous (concave on the anterior face) caudal vertebrae and feet similar to those of Saltasaurus. The last and largest of the group, Alamosaurus, reached twenty-six metres in length and was one of the last sauropods to go extinct.
Quick Facts
- Taxon
- Saltasauridae
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The first named saltasaurid was Saltasaurus, described by Jose Bonaparte and Jaime Powell in 1980 from fossils found in Argentina. Earlier, in 1922, Charles Gilmore named Alamosaurus based on fossils from Texas (not Utah), but it was not recognized as a saltasaurid until later cladistic analyses. In 1977, Magdalena Borsuk-Bialynicka described Opisthocoelicaudia from Mongolia. Saltasaurus was the first sauropod found with armor, proving that sauropods thrived in Cretaceous South America. Paul Sereno later recognized a cladistic relationship between Opisthocoelicaudia and Saltasaurus to create the family Saltasauridae.
Reader's Guide
Saltasauridae are significant as one of the few sauropod families known to possess armor, in the form of osteoderms along their backs. They represent a successful group of titanosaurs that colonized all continents during the Cretaceous, with fossils found as widely dispersed as Australia, Madagascar, and France. Their small, peg-like teeth and long necks allowed them to graze efficiently, fermenting plant matter in their enormous guts. The family includes the last sauropod to go extinct, Alamosaurus, and demonstrates that sauropods thrived in the Cretaceous despite being smaller than earlier sauropods. The discovery of Saltasaurus with armor challenged previous assumptions about sauropod defenses. The classification of Saltasauridae is based on shared characteristics of its two best-known members, Saltasaurus and Opisthocoelicaudia, though many fragmentary species cannot yet be placed in either subfamily.
Did You Know?
- The largest saltasaurid, Alamosaurus, was twenty-six metres (85 feet) long and one of the last sauropods to go extinct.
- Saltasaurus was the first sauropod discovered with armor, proving sauropods thrived in Cretaceous South America.
- The species Opisthocoelicaudia lacks phalanges in its forelimbs, but this is not a universal trait of the subfamily Opisthocoelicaudiinae.
- Saltasaurids had thirty-five or fewer caudal vertebrae, each procoelous (concave on the anterior face of the centrum).
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