Sidersaura marae

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Context

• A new species of long-necked herbivorous dinosaur named Sidersaura marae was discovered in the province of Neuquén, Argentina.

Sidersaura marae

• The newly-discovered dinosaur lived in what is now Argentina during the Cenomanian age of the Late Cretaceous epoch, between 96 and 93 million years ago.
• Scientifically named Sidersaura marae, the ancient beast was up to 20 m in length, had an estimated mass of 15 tons, and had a very long tail.
• The animal belongs to Rebbachisauridae, a large family of sauropod dinosaurs known for fragmentary fossil remains from South America, Africa, North America, Europe, and Asia.
• These dinosaurs are distinguished from other sauropods by their distinctive teeth. Some species had tooth batteries, similar to those of hadrosaur and ceratopsian dinosaurs.
• “Rebbachisaurids were very important dinosaurs in Cretaceous ecosystems and disappeared in the middle of this period in an extinction event that took place90 million years ago.