Fun Aragosaurus Facts For Kids

Aragosaurus ischiaticus as named by Sanz, Buscalioni, Casanovas, and Santafe belonged to the genus of Sauropod dinosaurs and was from the Early Cretaceous or Lower Cretaceous period of Galve. It was found in the province of Galve, Teruel, and was the first sauropod dinosaur discovered in Aragon, Spain.

It was recently discovered in research that the remains of the Aragosaurus ischiaticus stem from the Late Tithonian–upper part of the Early Berriasian, which would mean that the sauropod was almost 15 million years older than previously thought.

This made the Aragosaurus the ancestor of the Titanosauriforms, which includes some of the biggest dinosaurs. The term Aragosaurus means Aragon lizard and it stems from the province of Spain-Aragon range. This dinosaur was a plant-eater and was quadrupedal.

It lived during the early Berrisian, which is almost 145-140 million years ago. The Aragosaurus diet consisted of plants and trees. Their neck length made them unique

Scroll down to read about the Aragosaurus dinosaur life, what they fed on, their habits, and other exciting details! If you want to discover more like the Aragosaurus, take a look at the Camelotia and Abrosaurus.

Aragosaurus Interesting Facts

How do you pronounce 'Aragosaurus'?

Aragosaurus is pronounced as 'Aa-ra-go-saw-rus'. Aragosaurus facts point out that they are one of the lesser-known sauropods from the Early Cretaceous or Lower Cretaceous period. This breed of dinosaur was named by Sanz, Buscalioni, Casanovas, and Santafe in the year 1987.

What type of dinosaur was an Aragosaurus?

The Aragosaurus (Aragon lizard) was a large, quadrupedal, herbivorous dinosaur. It belonged to the genus of the sauropod family from the Early Cretaceous or Lower Cretaceous period.

It belonged to the clade Macronaria, as it had the large diameter of the nasal opening of their skull, known as the external naris, which exceeded the size of the orbit, the skull opening where the eye is located.

In which geological period did Aragosaurus roam the Earth?

This dinosaur belonged to the Early Berrisian, that is, the Early Cretaceous or Lower Cretaceous period, which is almost 145-140 million years ago.

When did the Aragosaurus become extinct?

Dinosaurs, in general, went extinct almost 65 million years ago, that is, at the end of the Cretaceous period, after living on the earth for about 165 million years.

Where did Aragosaurus live?

This dinosaur species was a plant-eater and therefore chose areas that were dense in vegetation. Their long tail enabled them to swish through large conifer trees, which means they stayed in cool and temperate regions.

What was the Aragosaurus' habitat?

The Aragosaurus (Aragon lizard) was found in the province of Teruel and was the first sauropod dinosaur that was discovered in Aragon, Spain range.

Who did Aragosaurus live with?

Fossil evidence points out from both the bone bed and trackways that sauropods were gregarious animals who lived and moved in herds. Mostly all herbivorous dinosaurs stayed in herds to protect themselves from predators.

How long did an Aragosaurus live?

There isn't a definite time frame of the Aragosaurus's life span, but most sauropods lived for almost 60-70 years and that is the only information on dinosaurs. It belonged to the Early Cretaceous or Lower Cretaceous period.

How did they reproduce?

Sauropod dinosaurs much like other reptiles mated with each other during the breeding season and the female Aragosaurus laid eggs. The eggs hatch after a certain period of time and newborn dinosaurs came out. The adult dinosaurs took care of the newborns till they could move with the parents.

Aragosaurus Fun Facts

What did Aragosaurus look like?

This dinosaur breed is a long quadrupedal dinosaur. Being quadrupedal it walked on all fours to balance its body weight so that it can walk and run.

It had a long neck, a long powerful tail, a small head, and a bulky body. This dinosaur breed is quite similar to the Camarasaurus and probably had a short, compact skull and a moderately long neck.

The teeth were large and wide and would have been useful for slicing through the leaves and branches of tall coniferous trees in Aragon, Spain. The forelimbs were only a little shorter than the hind limbs, and the tail was long and muscular.

How many bones did an Aragosaurus have?

These dinosaurs had longer necks and tails, which almost indicated that they had more cervicals. An average sauropod had between 11-19 cervicals.

How did they communicate?

How did they communicate is quite difficult to find, but they definitely didn't have modern means of communication. Like any other animal, dinosaurs also communicated by making sounds and using their body language. They might have included hoots and hollers to communicate.

How big was the Aragosaurus?

The Aragosaurus dinosaur length was almost 59.05 ft (18 m). It wasn't a tall dinosaur, but rather eminently had a longer neck and tail. The Aragosaurus size is almost two times bigger than the Sumatran elephant which is 18-21 ft (5.5-6.4 m) in length.

How fast could an Aragosaurus move?

The estimated speed of an Aragosaurus is almost 4.47 mph (7.2 kph) or more. Being a quadrupedal dinosaur it had more control over its speed. When running to chase fast prey they have been known to attain a maximum speed of 80 mph (128.7 kph).

How much did an Aragosaurus weigh?

This dinosaur weighed almost 27.55 tons (25000 kg).

What were the male and female names of the species?

There is no specific name for the male or female dinosaurs of this species and are commonly known and Aragosaurus or Aragosaurus ischiaticus.

What would you call a baby Aragosaurus?

The newborn dinosaur was known as hatchling or nestling. This was common for most dinosaur species.

What did they eat?

The Aragosaurus diet consisted of plants and trees. They might have also fed on fruits and berries found in the forests of present-day Aragon, Spain.

Secondary food sources may have included ginkgo, seed ferns, cycads, Bennettitales, ferns, clubmosses, and horsetails as part of their diet. With their long heads and tails, they swished through the forests and didn't even have to move from one place. They could stand in one place and reach far to feed on plants.

How aggressive were they?

The research divides dinosaurs into two groups where the sauropods are herbivores and don't attack each other or other dinosaurs while the theropods were meat-eaters and attacked each other and the other dinosaurs as well. The Aragosaurus being a sauropod was quite friendly and wasn't aggressive at all. They stayed together in harmony with other sauropod dinosaurs.

Did you know...

These dinosaur species were deposited in the Villar del Arzobispo Formation, which is a Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous geological formation in the province of Teruel in Eastern Spain. It was originally thought to date from the Late Tithonian-Middle Berriasian, but more recent research suggests it to be Kimmeridgian-Late Tithonian, possibly dating to the Early Berriasian in some areas.

Remains of dinosaurs are found throughout the unit, but are more abundant and better preserved in the terrestrially deposited middle-upper sections.

Why are they called Aragosaurus?

The Aragosaurus dinosaur is called so as it was found in the province of Teruel and was the first sauropod dinosaur to be discovered in Aragon, Spain, and therefore was named after Aragon by Sanz, Buscalioni, Casanovas, and Santafe in 1987.

Would Aragosaurus bite?

This dinosaur species was quite friendly and didn't harm any other species. Their diet (herbivore) made them feed on just plants and therefore the only thing the Aragosaurus bites were plants. In times where they were hunted down by meat-eater dinosaurs, to protect themselves they might have bitten, but research hasn't gone that far to prove it.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other creatures from our Vulcanodon facts and Quaesitosaurus facts pages.

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