Genus
Valid Extinct

Rapetosaurus

Curry Rogers and Forster 2001
Etymology Reptile Rapeto (un géant du folklore malgache)

Rapetosaurus is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur that lived in Madagascar from 70 to 66 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous Period. Only one species, Rapetosaurus krausei, has been identified. Like other sauropods, Rapetosaurus was a quadrupedal herbivore. It is calculated to have reached lengths of 15 m (49 ft) in adulthood.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
5
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling, gregarious Terrestrial
Rapetosaurus
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Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
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Saurischia Unranked clade
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Sauropodomorpha Unranked clade
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Massopoda Unranked clade
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Sauropodiformes Unranked clade
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Sauropoda Unranked clade
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Gravisauria Unranked clade
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Eusauropoda Unranked clade
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Neosauropoda Unranked clade
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Macronaria Unranked clade
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Titanosauriformes Unranked clade
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Somphospondyli Unranked clade
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Titanosauria Unranked clade
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Lithostrotia Unranked clade
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Saltasauroidea Superfamily
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Rapetosaurus Genus
Fossil sites 5 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇲🇬 Madagascar
5
Geological formations
Maevarano
5
Temporal distribution
Maastrichtian (72.2–66 Ma)
4
Campanian (83.6–72.2 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Rapetosaurus krausei 72 Ma
Images 2
Bibliography
Original description
K. A. Curry Rogers and C. A. Forster. 2001. The last of the dinosaur titans: a new sauropod from Madagascar. Nature 412:530-534
Bibliography (5)
W. G. Joyce, Y. Rollot, and S. W. Evers, T. R. Lyson, L. J. Rahantarisoa, D. W. Krause. 2021. A new pelomedusoid turtle, Sahonachelys mailakavava, from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar provides evidence for convergent evolution of specialized suction feeding among pleurodires. Royal Society Open Science 8(5):210098:1-32 DOI ↗
R. R. Rogers, D. W. Krause, and S. C. Kast, M. S. Marshall, L. Rahantarisoa, C. R. Robins, J. J. W. Sertich. 2013. A new, richly fossiliferous member comprised of tidal deposits in the Upper Cretaceous Maevarano Formation, northwestern Madagascar. Cretaceous Research 44:12-29 DOI ↗
K. A. Curry Rogers and C. A. Forster. 2004. The skull of Rapteosaurus krausei (Sauropoda: Titanosauria) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 24(1):121-144
K. A. Curry Rogers and C. A. Forster. 2001. The last of the dinosaur titans: a new sauropod from Madagascar. Nature 412:530-534
K. C. Rogers and C. A. Forster. 2001. The last of the dinosaur titans: A new sauropod from Madagascar. Nature 412(6846):530-4 DOI ↗