Patagotitan is a sauropod sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early-Late Cretaceous of Argentina. It was offically named in 2017 by José Carballido and his associates. It was one of the largest dinosaurs to roam the Earth, as well as one of the better-preserved large sauropods.
Physiology[]
Patagotitan was a large sauropod with a bulky, downwards-sloping body, a deep torso, 4 large, erect, pillar-like legs, a long tail, a long neck, and a small head. Its body would have been covered in scaly skin.
Diet[]
Patagotitan was an herbivore, feeding on leaves from large trees. Its peg-like teeth were used to strip branches of their leaves, and its long neck and limbs allowed it to access vegetation some 13 meters in the air without rearing.
Ecology[]
So far, all we know about Patagotitan is that its long, upwards-pointing neck allowed it to feed off the treetops without having to rear up, and could also be used to feed off plants closer to the ground. As well as this, it would have traveled in small herds in order to protect juveniles from harm; juveniles and subadults may have fallen prey to predators, while adults were impervious to predation.
In popular culture[]
Patagotitan was featured in the 2016 documentary Attenborough and the Giant Dinosaur, where the history of its discovery and reconstruction are discussed in great detail. As Patagotitan was first announced in 2014 (3 years before it was officially named), it is only referred to as a "titanosaur".