Dinosaur genus
Rapetosaurus
Rapetosaurus is a dinosaur genus known from bones, found in rocks 100.5–66 million years old, in Madagascar.
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medium: Only Wikidata gives this; nothing contradicts it.Confidence labels are switched off. Facts with low confidence, or where sources disagree, still carry a small dot: tap it for the reason.
At a glance
Data as of 10 October 2026- Named by
- Curry Rogers and Forster 2001
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medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
- Described in
- K. A. Curry Rogers, C. A. Forster (2001). The last of the dinosaur titans: a new sauropod from Madagascar. Nature 412: 530–534.
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medium: Only PBDB gives this; its author and year match the naming authority (Curry Rogers and Forster 2001).Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. The publication the Paleobiology Database gives as the authority for this genus name, usually the one that first named and described it.
- Lived
- Maastrichtian, 72.2–66 million years ago
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medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.Omnisaura calculation100.5–66 million years ago, from its dated fossil recordsmedium
medium: Omnisaura's calculation from 5 confirmed PBDB records.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
- Fossils found in
- Madagascar
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medium: Only PBDB records it (5 records).Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Union of all sources (ISO 3166).
- Rock formations
- Maevarano
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medium: Only PBDB records it (5 records).Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Canonical names, automatic and editor-approved matches applied.
- Parent group
- Saltasauroidea
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medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
- Species named in its records
- Rapetosaurus krausei
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database (the species its fossil records are identified as).
- Diet
- herbivore (inferred for its group)
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medium: Only PBDB gives this, and it infers it for the whole of Sauropoda, the group this genus belongs to, not from this genus's own fossils.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB, inferred from a group the genus belongs to.
- Way of life
- ground dwelling, gregarious (inferred for its group)
low
low: PBDB infers this way of life for the whole of Sauropoda; behaviour is rarely known for one genus.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB, inferred from a group the genus belongs to.
- Known from
- Bones
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database (what the name was based on).
Gaps are answers
What isn't known yet
- Type species: no source we use gives it yet.
- Order: no source we use gives it yet.
- Family: no source we use gives it yet.
- What it was named after: no source we use gives it yet.
- Resting on one source: 5 facts come from a single source with nothing against them (rated medium): authority (PBDB); parent group (PBDB); age (headline) (PBDB); common names (Wikidata); diet (PBDB).
Size and appearance aren't covered yet, and diet and way of life only as PBDB infers them for the wider group. Omnisaura leaves the rest out rather than guess.
Where sources disagree
None open. Where our sources overlap, they agree on everything shown here.
Did it meet…?
Same time, different places. Their fossils overlap in age, 83.6 to 66 million years ago, but no rock formation holds both.
Going by the ages and rock formations of their dated fossils, as on the map. Compare their fossil sites on the map.
Connections
Genera linked to Rapetosaurus by where and when their fossils were found, by classification and by who named them. Select a name to open its page.
Same rocks, same time 4
Genera found in the same rock units, from rocks of overlapping age, the most shared fossil sites first.
Named by Forster and Rogers 2
Genera whose naming authority includes the same surname. The authority has no initials, so different people who share a surname can appear together.
Found in Madagascar 5
Other genera found in Madagascar, from rocks of overlapping age, the most fossil sites there first.
Credits
Where this page comes from
- Paleobiology DatabaseCC BY 4.0 · fossil records, ages, classification
- WikidataCC0 1.0 · names and identifiers
- OmnisauraOmnisaura editorial · confidence levels and gaps
- PaleoMAP PaleoCoastlines (Kocsis and Scotese 2021)CC BY 4.0 · ancient coastlines on the small map
- Natural EarthPublic domain · today's coastlines
Pictures linked from this page are credited beside each one, with their own licences; the full list is in the JSON download.