Dreadnoughtus

fears nothing lizard (dreadnought lizard)

• dreadnought · English · battleship; literally 'fear nothing'
• sauros (-us) · Greek · lizard

The name combines "dreadnought," an old English word for a battleship, with the Greek word for lizard. It refers to the huge size of this titanosaur, which probably had little to fear from predators. The name echoes the early 20th-century dreadnought battleships, which were heavily armoured and powerful. It means "fears nothing."

Named by

Lacovara et al.

Year named

2014

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stages

Campanian – Maastrichtian

Found in

Cerro Fortaleza Formation, Santa Cruz Province, Patagonia, Argentina

A giant titanosaurian sauropod. The type species is Dreadnoughtus schrani. The species name honours Adam Schran, who funded the research. The genus name is not built from the usual "-saurus" ending. The age of the Cerro Fortaleza Formation is given as roughly Campanian to Maastrichtian, and the exact stage is uncertain.