The description of the Bajadasaurus was given as a member of the Dicraeosauridae genus, a group of small and short-necked Sauropods that lived from the early or middle Jurassic period to the end of the early Cretaceous period. The only specimen of the Sauropod dinosaur Bajadasaurus was discovered in 2010 by the paleontologists of CONICET (National Scientific and Technical Research Council), the science intelligence agency of the Argentinian government. The most striking feature of the Bajadasaurus was the presence of extremely long cervical neural spines that curved towards the front. More information about the species was unearthed when the Amargasaurus cazaui was discovered in 1991, from early Cretaceous beds of La Amarga formation of Northern Patagonia, Argentina. The Amargasaurus was deemed to be a similar species; both Sauropod dinosaurs belonged to the Dicraeosaurus family. Both the Amargasaurus as well as the Bajadasaurus had bone projections along the spine. While studying the specimen, Matt Wedel discovered bumps on the spine, which served the function of defense against enemies. Other researchers like Gallina expressed the possibility that spikes on the Bajadasaurus’ neck were covered in very lengthy keratin sheaths. The tail vertebra was one distinctive difference between the Sauropod dinosaur from Argentina and the Amargasaurus as although elongated, the Bajadasaurus spine was curved down, and the tail was pointed inwards. The Amargasaurus vertebra pointed straight outwards. However, proof that the Bajadasaurus used its spikes that pointed forward for defense purposes is slim. It was suspected that, because the Sauropod bent down to consume plants, the neck would have worn out from exhaustion, but Pablo Gallina and his colleagues noted that keratin-based horns and bones provided exceptional strength for the spine, structure to the body, and defense against predators.If you like reading this article, check out facts about the Xiaotingia and the Leptorhynchos.
Fun Bajadasaurus Facts For Kids
What did they prey on? N/A
What did they eat? Herbivores
Average litter size? 27
How much did they weigh? 17,637 lb (8,000 kg)
How long were they? 32.8-42.6 ft (10-13 m)
How tall were they? 39 ft (11.8 m)
What did they look like? Gray, white, yellow
Skin Type Tubercles
What were their main threats? Natural disasters
Where were they found? Bajada Colorado formation, Mandwa basin formation
Locations Tanzania, Northern Patagonia
Kingdom Animalia
Genus Sauropod
Class Reptile
Family Decraesaurids
Scientific Name Bajadasaurus pronuspinax
How scary were they? 3
How loud were they? 3
How intelligent were they? 2
Bajadasaurus Interesting FactsHow do you pronounce ‘Bajadasaurus’?The Bajadasaurus pronuspinax name is pronounced as ‘Baj-ah-dah-saw-rus proh-new-spi-nahks’.What type of dinosaur was a Bajadasaurus?The description of the Bajadasaurus was given as a quadruped and part of the family of Sauropod dinosaurs Diplodocoidea. In which geological period did the Bajadasaurus roam the Earth?The Sauropod from the Dicraeosauridae order inhabited the Earth from the early Cretaceous epoch between 145 and 132.9 million years ago.When did the Bajadasaurus become extinct?The Bajadasaurus pronuspinax lived until the late Cretaceous period 70 million years ago and then became extinct like every other dinosaur.Where did a Bajadasaurus live?The Bajadasaurus fossil was discovered in Jurassic bone beds of Tanzania. The Bajadasaurus lived in the northern Patagonia ice sheet, which is the present-day Chile in Argentina.What was a Bajadasaurus’ habitat?They inhabited the Bajada Colorada formation and Tendaguru formation of the Mandwa basin. Both sites are rich river basins with plains alongside them.Who did a Bajadasaurus live with?The Bajadasaurus pronuspinax, which lived during the early Cretaceous period, possibly lived alongside dinosaurs like the Abelisaurus. It’s definite that these dinosaurs lived among many animals considering their location. The present-day South America was famous for housing a lot of dinosaurs in all thgeological eras.How long did a Bajadasaurus live?The Bajadasaurus was a dinosaur from the upper Cretaceous period, and most Sauropods of that age were known to have lived for a good 80-100 years. The species, however, existed for around 200 years.How did they reproduce?Like other Sauropods, these dinosaurs reproduced by laying eggs. Being a Sauropod, it probably laid around 15-30 eggs. Babies were kept insulated in a shallow pit-like nest in the ground throughout the incubation period and were protected until they hatched.Bajadasaurus Fun FactsWhat did a Bajadasaurus look like?The Sauropod was primarily known for its vertebral column found during its discovery. It was one of the very few specimens found with a complete skull. It had a moderately long neck and an elongated skull, common features among Sauropod dinosaurs. The Bajadasaurus skeleton had distinctive long neural spines, highly extended from neck vertebrae, that ran as far as the end of the tail. The small and short-necked species had horns that were made of keratin-based sheath, providing head-strong security. The structure of the eye was revealed to be front sided only, and the dinosaur probably didn’t have the best side vision.How many bones did a Bajadasaurus have?The original specimen was known to have around 18 bones. While some of these bones were found in fragments, others, like the skull, were found in a complete state.How did they communicate?The Sauropod probably communicated through hissing and bellowing. They might have shown courtship behaviors like other animals to attract mates or defend their territories, but none of the dinosaur species are known to have had loud roars, as shown in movies.How big was a Bajadasaurus?The Bajadasaurus size was moderate, as compared to tons of dinosaurs from South America. One such iconic dinosaur was the Argentinosaurus which was as huge as 131 ft (40 m), while the Bajadasaurus was only as big as 32.8 ft (10 m), thus making it almost four times smaller than the Argentinosaurus.How fast could a Bajadasaurus move?The Sauropod from north Patagonia had an estimated speed between 4.4-4.9 mph (7.1-7.9 kph).How much did a Bajadasaurus weigh?The Bajadasaurus pronuspinax weighed around 17,637 lb (8,000 kg). The iconic Argentinosaurus dinosaur was as heavy as 198,416 lb (90,000 kg) thus making the Argentinosaurus around 10 times heavier than the Bajadasaurus.What were the male and female names of the species?Male dinosaurs were called ‘bucks’ and female dinosaurs were called ‘cows.’ Otherwise they are known by the common name ‘Bajadasaurus.‘What would you call a baby Bajadasaurus?A baby was known as a hatchling, just like its cousin, reptiles.What did they eat?The Dicraeosauridae was a herbivore and probably fed on plants and available forest material. It was a species that was preyed on. Predators included the Giganotosaurus carolinii, the biggest carnivorous dinosaur of all time.How aggressive were they?The Bajadasaurus pronuspinax was mildly aggressive. Being Sauropods, they were not expected to be too aggressive anyway. However, they must have been aggressive enough to protect themselves against predators.Did you know…The long neural spine extending from the neck vertebrae was a common trend shared by the South American Amargasaurus cazaui.The sail on the top of the vertebral backbone was believed to have served dual functions. While its basic function was defense, the sail is one example of a structure meant to attract potential mates.The Bajadasaurus pronuspinax was the only species in its genus.Who found the Bajadasaurus?The group was first described in 1914 by Werner Janensch with the discovery of nearly complete skeletons of the Dicraeosaurus in expeditions in upper Jurassic beds of Tendaguru, Tanzania.What does Bajadasaurus mean?The name comes from ‘Bajada,’ the Spanish word for downhill. It is used in reference to the locality of Bajada (Colorada). ‘Saurus’ means lizard in Greek.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 Metriorhynchus interesting facts or Yinlong facts for kids.You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Bajadasaurus coloring pages.Main image by Slate WeaselSecond image by Megaraptor-The-Allo
How do you pronounce ‘Bajadasaurus’?
The Bajadasaurus pronuspinax name is pronounced as ‘Baj-ah-dah-saw-rus proh-new-spi-nahks’.
Fun Bajadasaurus Facts For Kids
What did they prey on? N/A
What did they eat? Herbivores
Average litter size? 27
How much did they weigh? 17,637 lb (8,000 kg)
How long were they? 32.8-42.6 ft (10-13 m)
How tall were they? 39 ft (11.8 m)
What did they look like? Gray, white, yellow
Skin Type Tubercles
What were their main threats? Natural disasters
Where were they found? Bajada Colorado formation, Mandwa basin formation
Locations Tanzania, Northern Patagonia
Kingdom Animalia
Genus Sauropod
Class Reptile
Family Decraesaurids
Scientific Name Bajadasaurus pronuspinax
How scary were they? 3
How loud were they? 3
How intelligent were they? 2
Fun Bajadasaurus Facts For Kids
What did they prey on? N/A
What did they eat? Herbivores
Average litter size? 27
How much did they weigh? 17,637 lb (8,000 kg)
How long were they? 32.8-42.6 ft (10-13 m)
How tall were they? 39 ft (11.8 m)
What did they look like? Gray, white, yellow
Skin Type Tubercles
What were their main threats? Natural disasters
Where were they found? Bajada Colorado formation, Mandwa basin formation
Locations Tanzania, Northern Patagonia
Kingdom Animalia
Genus Sauropod
Class Reptile
Family Decraesaurids
Scientific Name Bajadasaurus pronuspinax
How scary were they? 3
How loud were they? 3
How intelligent were they? 2
Fun Bajadasaurus Facts For Kids
What did they prey on? N/A
What did they eat? Herbivores
Average litter size? 27
How much did they weigh? 17,637 lb (8,000 kg)
How long were they? 32.8-42.6 ft (10-13 m)
How tall were they? 39 ft (11.8 m)
What did they look like? Gray, white, yellow
Skin Type Tubercles
What were their main threats? Natural disasters
Where were they found? Bajada Colorado formation, Mandwa basin formation
Locations Tanzania, Northern Patagonia
Kingdom Animalia
Genus Sauropod
Class Reptile
Family Decraesaurids
Scientific Name Bajadasaurus pronuspinax
How scary were they? 3
How loud were they? 3
How intelligent were they? 2
Fun Bajadasaurus Facts For Kids
What did they prey on? N/A
What did they eat? Herbivores
Average litter size? 27
How much did they weigh? 17,637 lb (8,000 kg)
How long were they? 32.8-42.6 ft (10-13 m)
How tall were they? 39 ft (11.8 m)
What did they look like? Gray, white, yellow
Skin Type Tubercles
What were their main threats? Natural disasters
Where were they found? Bajada Colorado formation, Mandwa basin formation
Locations Tanzania, Northern Patagonia
Kingdom Animalia
Genus Sauropod
Class Reptile
Family Decraesaurids
Scientific Name Bajadasaurus pronuspinax
How scary were they? 3
How loud were they? 3
How intelligent were they? 2
What did they prey on? N/A
What did they eat? Herbivores
Average litter size? 27
How much did they weigh? 17,637 lb (8,000 kg)
How long were they? 32.8-42.6 ft (10-13 m)
How tall were they? 39 ft (11.8 m)
What did they look like? Gray, white, yellow
Skin Type Tubercles
What were their main threats? Natural disasters
Where were they found? Bajada Colorado formation, Mandwa basin formation
Locations Tanzania, Northern Patagonia
Kingdom Animalia
Genus Sauropod
Class Reptile
Family Decraesaurids
Scientific Name Bajadasaurus pronuspinax
How scary were they? 3
How loud were they? 3
How intelligent were they? 2
What did they prey on? N/A
What did they eat? Herbivores
Average litter size? 27
How much did they weigh? 17,637 lb (8,000 kg)
How long were they? 32.8-42.6 ft (10-13 m)
How tall were they? 39 ft (11.8 m)
What did they look like? Gray, white, yellow
Skin Type Tubercles
What were their main threats? Natural disasters
What did they prey on?
N/A
What did they eat?
Herbivores
Average litter size?
27
How much did they weigh?
17,637 lb (8,000 kg)
How long were they?
32.8-42.6 ft (10-13 m)
How tall were they?
39 ft (11.8 m)
What did they look like?
Gray, white, yellow
Skin Type
Tubercles
What were their main threats?
Natural disasters
Where were they found? Bajada Colorado formation, Mandwa basin formation
Locations Tanzania, Northern Patagonia
Kingdom Animalia
Genus Sauropod
Class Reptile
Family Decraesaurids
Scientific Name Bajadasaurus pronuspinax
How scary were they? 3
How loud were they? 3
How intelligent were they? 2
Where were they found?
Bajada Colorado formation, Mandwa basin formation
Locations
Tanzania, Northern Patagonia
Kingdom Animalia
Genus Sauropod
Kingdom
Animalia
Genus
Sauropod
Class Reptile
Family Decraesaurids
