Fun Agustinia Facts For Kids

The dinosaur Agustinia is a species of South American dinosaur which lived during the Middle Cretaceous period in Argentina.

It was named after the paleontologist who discovered it, Agustin Martinelli, as well as Dr. Giancarlo Ligabue, who funded the expedition, resulting in the species name Agustinia ligabuei.

This dinosaur has its own genus and family due to the supposed presence of unique armor on its back, of which debate is still undergoing due to lack of complete evidence among the fossil.

It is very similar in appearance to other sauropods such as the Diplodocus and Camarasaurus, its identifying feature being its spiky armor.

To learn more about this roar-some reptile, read on! For more relatable content, check out these Siamotyrannus facts and Sanjuansaurus facts for kids.

Agustinia Interesting Facts

How do you pronounce 'Agustinia'?

Agustinia is pronounced as 'ah-gus-tin-ee-ah'.

What type of dinosaur was an Agustinia?

Agustinia was a type of sauropod, meaning a long-necked dinosaur that had four legs and was herbivorous in nature.

In which geological period did the Agustinia roam the Earth?

The Agustinia dinosaur species roamed the Earth during the Middle Cretaceous period, which is estimated to have taken place between 100-115 million years ago.

When did the Agustinia become extinct?

Alluding to the fact that it existed on the earth during the Middle Cretaceous period, it is likely that this dinosaur became fully extinct around 100 million years ago.

Where did an Agustinia live?

The Agustinia specimen was found in the Lohan Cura formation in the Neuquen Province, Argentina. With the help of this information, we can assume that this dinosaur was found mainly in South America.

What was an Agustinia's habitat?

As the geographical makeup of the earth was vastly different millions of years ago, it is uncertain what type of climate or habitat this dinosaur preferred. It is assumed that it was found in the woodlands of South America.

Who did Agustinia live with?

Agustinia dinosaurs, like most others, mostly lived in packs. There are high chances of herbivorous dinosaurs living and feeding together in groups, and this theory has been developed due to the discovery of a number of fossilized trackways containing a sequence of dinosaur footprints, all suggesting the presence of dinosaurs traveling in groups.

This also helped to keep away larger, more dangerous velociraptors.

How long did an Agustinia live?

Though the exact lifespan of a dinosaur cannot be determined, it has been estimated that they lived quite long lives, akin to those of similar reptiles like crocodiles and turtles. Due to their slow metabolisms and herbivorous diets, these beasts have been estimated to live between 80-300 years.

How did they reproduce?

Agustinia dinosaurs were oviparous and reproduced by laying eggs. Their mating process was mostly similar to that of modern-day reptiles, with internal fertilization taking place inside the female's body.

Agustinia Fun Facts

What did an Agustinia look like?

Similar to most sauropods, Agustinia dinosaurs had four thick, stumpy legs, a long end that tapered at the end, and a long body and neck ending with a tiny head.

It supposedly has unique spinal armor or osteoderms present in the form of two rows of spikes jutting out in a line across its back with smaller spikes up its neck and most likely its head and tail as well.

It was mostly light greenish-brown in color, according to illustrations.

How many bones did an Agustinia have?

Unfortunately, no full Agustinia skeleton has been recovered anywhere in the world, hence we do not have sufficient information regarding its exact number of bones. Various hip, rib, vertebrae, thigh, and fibula bones have been discovered, however, the rest of its body could not be recovered.

The supposed osteoderms or spinal plates were also discovered, which creates the theory that it had spiked armor on its back. However, there is not enough information or evidence available to confirm this.

How did they communicate?

Dinosaurs are known for their loud, earth-shaking roars which are mostly how this dinosaur communicated. They mostly used bellowing roars, grunts of low rumbling noises to communicate, in order to mate or chase away other dinosaurs from their territories.

Visual displays were also probably used, with raising of the front legs, stomping, and tail whipping involved. Being a herbivorous dinosaur meant being a probable target for larger carnivorous dinosaurs, hence the Agustina likely indulged in intense physical and vocal displays in order to ward off predators.

How big was Agustinia?

Due to the discovery of a fibula bone amounting to the size 3 ft (91.4 cm) in length, comparison with the same bone in other dinosaurs and their respective lengths led to the speculation that the estimated Agustinia size was around 49.2 ft (15 m) in length.

How fast could an Agustinia move?

Though the exact speed of this dinosaur is unknown, it was estimated that sauropods were mostly slow-moving dinosaurs, and never exceeded speeds beyond the range of 4.5-5 mph (7.2-8 kph).

How much did an Agustinia weigh?

The Agustinia dinosaur most probably weighed between 10-20 tons (10.2-20.3 met tons).

What were the male and female names of the species?

A male dinosaur has been termed a saurus whereas the female dinosaur is known as saura. We do not make any distinction in sex while referring to dinosaurs though.

What would you call a baby Agustinia?

Baby Agustinia dinosaurs were known as hatchlings.

What did they eat?

Since Agustinia dinosaurs were herbivorous in nature, they most likely sustained themselves on a diet of leaves, twigs, roots, and rudimentary fruits, vegetables, and seeds. Being long-necked dinosaurs, they were able to reach the tops of trees and eat various types of leaves.

How aggressive were they?

Though herbivorous dinosaurs did not prey on smaller creatures, they still had to be quite aggressive in order to protect themselves from the larger predatory dinosaurs such as various therapods.

They had a number of defensive mechanisms such as tough, scaly armor, bludgeon, and mace-like tails and sharp horns and spikes on their body, in order to attack any incoming predators head-on.

Though the Agustinia dinosaur has two rows of spikes jutting out in opposite directions on its back, it was decided that these were most likely only for aesthetics and not actually used in defense.

Did you know...

Due to the presence of supposed armor or osteoderms on its back, the classification of this dinosaur shows that it is the lone species in its own genus Agustinia.

Its proposed family Agustiniidae has not been accepted widely due to it exhibiting characteristics similar to diplodocids and titanosaurians, with arguments that it is better suited for the Neosauropoda family.

How did Agustinia get its name?

The Agustinia dinosaur genus is named after Agustin Martinelli, the paleontologist who first discovered its fossils in the Lohan Cura Formation of Neuquen Province in Argentina, South America.

Though originally named as Augustia, a beetle species by the same name was revealed to have already existed by that time, hence the name Agustinia was formally introduced by paleontologist Jose Bonaparte in 1999.

The species name Agustinia ligabuei was given in honor of Dr. Giancarlo Ligabue, who financed the expedition in order to retrieve the Agustinia remains.

Did Agustinia have armor?

Though not many characteristics were discovered in the original Agustinia fossil which would differentiate it from other sauropod species, what made it stand out was the discovery of fragmented spiky armor plates (known as osteoderms) which were speculated to cover the back of the dinosaur.

However further study of the vague fossils has shown that these could very well be rib and hip bones instead, causing uncertainty about the true appearance of this species.

The existence of Agustinia's armor is mere speculation at this point, with not enough evidence to confirm it.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other dinosaurs from our Thecodontosaurus fun facts and Wuerhosaurus fun facts for kids pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Agustinia coloring pages.

Second image by Nobu Tamura.