Researchers in Argentina have unearthed the bones of what may be largest dinosaur ever found.
Science Recorder | Delila James | Saturday, May 17, 2014
Imagine a creature that is 130 feet long and weighs as much as 14 African elephants put together. That is what paleontologists believe they have found in the deserts of Argentina—a gigantic titanosaur, nearly eight tons heavier than the last record-holder, Argentinosaurus. Luckily for its smaller animal neighbors, this giant new species was a herbivore.
A local farm worker in Argentina reportedly came across the remains in a desert near La Flecha, in southern Argentina The massive dinosaur bones were later excavated by a team of paleontologists from the Museum of Paleontology Egidio Feruglio, led by Dr. Jose Luis Carballido and Dr. Diego Pol. Based on the size of its thigh bones, the titanosaur is estimated to have been 130 feet long and 65 feet tall, the BBC reports.
“Given the size of these bones, which surpass any of the previously known giant animals, the new dinosaur is the largest animal known that walked on Earth,” the researchers told the BBC. They have excavated 150 bones representing the partial skeletons of seven individual titanosaurs.
The enormous, as yet unnamed, plant-eating creature roamed the forests of Patagonia between 95 and 100 million years ago, based on the age of the rocks where its bones were found.
Some experts are being circumspect about the new find, saying more information is needed before the new dinosaur’s size can accurately be determined.
“Without knowing more about this current find, it’s difficult to be sure,” Dr. Paul Barrett of London’s Natural History Museum, told the BBC. “One problem with assessing the weight of both Argentinosaurus and this new discovery is that they’re both based on very fragmentary specimens—no complete skeleton is known, which means the animal’s proportions and overall shape are conjectural.”
As for naming the new dinosaur, the researchers said, “It will be named describing its magnificence and in honor to both the region and the farm owners who alerted us about the discovery.”
A local farm worker in Argentina reportedly came across the remains in a desert near La Flecha, in southern Argentina The massive dinosaur bones were later excavated by a team of paleontologists from the Museum of Paleontology Egidio Feruglio, led by Dr. Jose Luis Carballido and Dr. Diego Pol. Based on the size of its thigh bones, the titanosaur is estimated to have been 130 feet long and 65 feet tall, the BBC reports.
“Given the size of these bones, which surpass any of the previously known giant animals, the new dinosaur is the largest animal known that walked on Earth,” the researchers told the BBC. They have excavated 150 bones representing the partial skeletons of seven individual titanosaurs.
The enormous, as yet unnamed, plant-eating creature roamed the forests of Patagonia between 95 and 100 million years ago, based on the age of the rocks where its bones were found.
Some experts are being circumspect about the new find, saying more information is needed before the new dinosaur’s size can accurately be determined.
“Without knowing more about this current find, it’s difficult to be sure,” Dr. Paul Barrett of London’s Natural History Museum, told the BBC. “One problem with assessing the weight of both Argentinosaurus and this new discovery is that they’re both based on very fragmentary specimens—no complete skeleton is known, which means the animal’s proportions and overall shape are conjectural.”
As for naming the new dinosaur, the researchers said, “It will be named describing its magnificence and in honor to both the region and the farm owners who alerted us about the discovery.”
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