Mapusaurus ('earth lizar') was a giant carnosaurian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of what is now Argentina. It was similar in size to its close relative Giganotosaurus, with the largest known specimens measuring over 12.2 meters (40 ft) in length and weighing over 3 tons.Mapusaurus was excavated between 1997 and 2001, by the Argentinian-Canadian Dinosaur Project, from an exposure of the Huincul Formation (Rio Limay Group, Cenomanian) at Canadon de Gato. It was described and named by paleontologists Rodolfo Coria and Phil Currie in 2006.