# Argentinosaurus huinculensis

> A titanosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina, and one of the heaviest land animals known, estimated at 65 to 75 tonnes. It is known from only a few enormous bones: back vertebrae, part of the hip and a lower leg bone.

- Classification: Dinosauria (clade) > Saurischia (clade) > Sauropodomorpha (clade) > Sauropoda (clade) > Macronaria (clade) > Titanosauria (clade) > Argentinosaurus (genus) > Argentinosaurus huinculensis (species)
- Length: 30–35 m
- Hip height: 4.8–5.5 m
- Mass: 65–83 t
- Age: 100.5–89.8 million years ago (Late Cretaceous)
- Fossils found in: Huincul Formation (Neuquén Province); Argentina
- Diet: herbivore
- Described: José F. Bonaparte & Rodolfo A. Coria, 1993

Canonical page: https://dinodex.club/dinosaurs/argentinosaurus-huinculensis
Last updated: 2026-09-27

## Overview

Argentinosaurus huinculensis lived in what is now Neuquén Province, Argentina, in the Late Cretaceous. A rancher, Guillermo Heredia, found its first bone in 1987 on the Las Overas farm near Plaza Huincul, and José Bonaparte and Rodolfo Coria named it in 1993. The fossils are kept at the Museo Carmen Funes in Plaza Huincul.

Only a small part of the skeleton is known: seven back (dorsal) vertebrae, five hip (sacral) vertebrae, rib fragments and a fibula from the lower leg. The back vertebrae are much larger and longer than those of any other described titanosaur, which is why most researchers rank it among the largest land animals of all time.

Its size can only be estimated from these bones and from better-known relatives. Gregory Paul (2019) estimated 65 to 75 tonnes; a computer model of the museum reconstruction gave about 83 tonnes (Sellers et al. 2013). The same study simulated its walk and found that such a giant could move, but only at a slow pace.

## Name meaning

"Argentine lizard", from Argentina and Greek sauros; huinculensis refers to Plaza Huincul, the town near the find (Bonaparte & Coria 1993).

## Sources

1. (2026). Paleobiology Database: Argentinosaurus occurrences. The Paleobiology Database (paleobiodb.org), data service 1.2, accessed 2026-09-23. https://paleobiodb.org/data1.2/occs/list.txt?base_name=Argentinosaurus&show=coords,paleoloc,strat,loc,ref&pgm=gplates
2. (2026). Wikipedia: Argentinosaurus. Wikipedia (English), accessed 2026-09-23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentinosaurus
3. Bonaparte, J. F. & Coria, R. A. (1993). Un nuevo y gigantesco saurópodo titanosaurio de la Formación Río Limay (Albiano-Cenomaniano) de la Provincia del Neuquén, Argentina. Ameghiniana 30(3): 271-282.
4. Cohen, K. M., Harper, D. A. T., Gibbard, P. L. & Car, N. (2023). International Chronostratigraphic Chart (v2023/09). International Commission on Stratigraphy. https://stratigraphy.org/ICSchart/ChronostratChart2023-09.pdf
5. Garrido, A. C. (2010). Stratigraphy of the Neuquén Group, Upper Cretaceous of the Neuquén Basin (Argentina): new proposal for lithostratigraphic ordaining. Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales 12: 121-177. https://doi.org/10.22179/revmacn.12.239
6. Mazzetta, G. V., Christiansen, P. & Fariña, R. A. (2004). Giants and bizarres: body size of some southern South American Cretaceous dinosaurs. Historical Biology 16: 71-83. https://doi.org/10.1080/08912960410001715132
7. Paul, G. S. (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (2nd edition). Princeton University Press.
8. Paul, G. S. (2019). Determining the largest known land animal: a critical comparison of differing methods for restoring the volume and mass of extinct animals. Annals of Carnegie Museum 85(4): 335-358. https://doi.org/10.2992/007.085.0403
9. Sellers, W. I., Margetts, L., Coria, R. A. & Manning, P. L. (2013). March of the Titans: the locomotor capabilities of sauropod dinosaurs. PLoS ONE 8: e78733. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0078733

---

Cite as: "Argentinosaurus huinculensis". DinoDex. https://dinodex.club/dinosaurs/argentinosaurus-huinculensis (updated 2026-09-27).