Aragosaurus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of dinosaurs}}

{{Italic title}}

{{speciesbox

| name = Aragosaurus

| fossil_range = Early Cretaceous, {{fossil_range|Berriasian}}

| image = Aragosaurus LM.png

| image_caption = Restoration

| genus = Aragosaurus

| species = ischiaticus

| parent_authority = Sanz et al., 1987

| authority = Sanz et al., 1987

}}

Aragosaurus (meaning "Aragon lizard") was a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous period of Galve, province of Teruel, in the autonomous territory of Aragón, Spain.Sanz, J.L., Buscalioni, A.D., Casanovas, M.L. y Santafé, J. V. 1987: Dinosaurios del Cretácico Inferior de Galve (Teruel, España). Estudios Geológicos, volumen extraordinario Galve-Tremp: 45-64. It was deposited in the Villar del Arzobispo Formation.

File:Aragosaurus and Torvosaurus.jpg, Dinópolis]]

Aragosaurus was a large, quadrupedal plant-eating (herbivorous) dinosaur, which lived during the early Berriasian, about 145-140 million years ago.Artai A. Santos, Uxue Villanueva-Amadoz, Rafael Royo-Torres, Luis Miguel Sender, Alberto Cobos, Luis Alcalá & José B. Diez (2018). Palaeobotanical records associated with the first dinosaur defined in Spain: Palynostratigraphy, taxonomy and palaeoenvironmental remarks. Cretaceous Research (advance online publication). doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2018.04.023 It was about {{convert|18|m|feet|lk=out}} in length and about 25 tonnes in weight.Paul, G. S. (2010). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, p. 199

Like other sauropods, it had a long neck, a long powerful tail, a small head and a bulky body. It was broadly similar to Camarasaurus. It is represented by a partial skeleton, which was found in Spain and was named by Sanz, Buscalioni, Casanovi and Santafe in 1987. The type species is A. ischiaticus. Like Camarasaurus, Aragosaurus 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 conifer trees. The forelimbs were only a little shorter than the hind limbs, and the tail was long and muscular.