Alamosaurus

Ojo Alamo lizard

• Alamo · Spanish · from the Ojo Alamo Formation (Spanish 'alamo' = poplar/cottonwood), New Mexico
• sauros · Greek · lizard

Alamosaurus was named after the Ojo Alamo Formation (then called the Ojo Alamo Sandstone) in New Mexico, where the first fossils were thought to have come from. The formation itself takes its name from a nearby trading post, Ojo Alamo, meaning 'cottonwood spring'. It has no connection to the Alamo in Texas. The ending is the Greek 'sauros', meaning lizard.

Named by

Gilmore

Year named

1922

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Maastrichtian

Found in

North Horn Formation, Utah, and other formations in New Mexico and Texas, USA (type material from the Naashoibito Member of the Kirtland Formation, New Mexico)

A large titanosaurian sauropod, and one of the last and most northerly known sauropods in North America. The type species is Alamosaurus sanjuanensis. Fossils are now known from several US states, including the Javelina Formation in Texas.