Editing Saltasaurus (section)

==Discovery==
[[File:Saltasaurus.jpg|left|thumb|A large osteoderm]]
The fossils of ''Saltasaurus'' were excavated by [[José Bonaparte]], Martín Vince and Juan C. Leal between 1975 and 1977 at the Estancia "El Brete". The find was in 1977 reported in the scientific literature.<ref>J.F. Bonaparte, J.A. Salfity, G. Bossi & J.E. Powell, 1977, "Hallazgo de dinosaurios y aves cretacicas en la Formación Lecho de El Brete (Salta), proximo al limite con Tucumán", ''Acta Geològica Lilloana'' '''14''': 5-17</ref>

''Saltasaurus'' was named and described by Bonaparte and Jaime E. Powell in 1980. The [[type species]] is ''Saltasaurus loricatus''. Its generic name is derived from [[Salta Province]], the region of north-west Argentina where the first fossils were recovered. The [[specific name (zoology)|specific name]] means "protected by small armoured plates" in [[Latin]].<ref>J.F. Bonaparte and J.E. Powell, 1980, "A continental assemblage of tetrapods from the Upper Cretaceous beds of El Brete, northwestern Argentina (Sauropoda-Coelurosauria-Carnosauria-Aves)," ''Mémoires de la Société Géologique de France, Nouvelle Série'' '''139''': 19-28</ref>

The [[holotype]], '''PVL 4017-92''', was found in a layer of the [[Lecho Formation]] dating from the early [[Maastrichtian]] stage of the [[Upper Cretaceous]] period, about seventy million years old. It consists of a [[sacrum]] connected to two [[ilium (bone)|ilia]]. Under the inventory number PVL 4017 over two hundred additional fossils have been catalogued. These include rear skull elements, teeth, [[vertebra]]e of the neck, back, hip and tail, parts of the shoulder girdle and the pelvis, and limb bones &mdash; plus various pieces of armour. These bones represent a minimum of five individuals, two adults and three juveniles or subadults.<ref name="Powell1992">Powell, J.E., 1992, "Osteología de ''Saltasaurus loricatus'' (Sauropoda Titanosauridae) del Cretácico Superior del noroeste Argentino" In: Sanz, J., Buscalioni, A. (Eds.), ''Los dinosaurios y su entorno biótico: Actas del Segundo Curso de Paleontología in Cuenca'', pp. 165-230</ref>

Currently the only recognised [[species]] of ''Saltasaurus'' is ''S. loricatus''. A ''S. robustus'' and a ''S. australis'' have been suggested but these are now considered to belong to a separate [[genus]], ''[[Neuquensaurus]]''. Earlier, armour plates from the area had been named as ''[[Loricosaurus]]'' by [[Friedrich von Huene]] who assumed them to be from an armoured [[ankylosaur]]ian. It has been suggested these plates were in fact from ''Saltasaurus''.