Rapetosaurus (/rəˌpeɪtuːˈsɔːrəs/ rə-PAY-too-SOR-əs[1]) is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur that lived in Madagascar from 70 to 66 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous Period.

Rapetosaurus was a fairly typical sauropod, with a short and slender tail, a very long neck and a huge, elephant-like body.

In 2020 Molina-Perez and Larramendi estimated the size of the probable adult specimen (MAD 93-18), which is known from a femur, at 16.5 meters (54 ft) and 10.3 tonnes (11.35 short tons).

It has helped to clarify some difficult, century-old classification issues, among this large group of sauropod dinosaurs and provides a good baseline for the reconstruction of other titanosaurs that are known only from partial fossilized remains.

The rock formation has been dated to the Maastrichtian stage of the late Cretaceous, which means the fossilized bones are about 70 million years old.

The generic name Rapetosaurus is derived from Rapeto (a giant deity in Malagasy folklore credited for the geographical features of the land[4]) and sauros, which is Greek for lizard.

Analysis of the bones further revealed the young Rapetosaurus likely starved to death due to Cretaceous Madagascar's harsh droughts.

[8] Sea levels in the area were rising throughout the Maastrichtian, and would continue to do so into the Paleocene Epoch, so Rapetosaurus may have roamed coastal environments like tidal flats as well.

It is similar to species found in India and Argentina, indicating that land bridges between the fragments of the former supercontinent of Gondwana still existed in the late Cretaceous, far later than was previously believed.