This sucker was 10 times as large as T-Rex. Now that is big boned. I think I saw a big boned ancestor roaming the streets of West Philly last week.
‘World’s biggest dinosaur’ discovered in Argentina
Paleontologists in Argentina say they recently discovered fossils belonging to the largest dinosaur on record. During its lifetime, the new species of titanosaur is believed to have stood 65-feet-tall, was more than 130-feet-long, and weighed 77 tons (155,000 pounds).
“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,” researchers Dr. Jose Luis Carballido and Dr. Diego Pol told the BBC.
Its enormous length was spread out across a long neck and tail, with a relatively small skull. To put the newly discovered titanosaur’s enormous size in context, a T-Rex weighed about 7 tons.
The fossils were first spotted by a local farm worker in 2011 and were fully excavated by a team from the Museum of Paleontology Egidio Feruglio led by Carballido and Pol. The fossils, taken from seven different titanosaurs, were described as being in “remarkable condition.”
“Standing with its neck up, it was about 20m high — equal to a seven-story building.” Carballido said.
Despite its overwhelming size, the giant titanosaur, belonging to the larger sauropod group of dinosaurs, is believed to have been a herbivore, roaming through the forests of the Cretaceous Period about 100 million years ago.
“This is a true paleontological treasure,” Carbailido said in a statement.
Carballido and Pol said in choosing a name for the newly discovered species, the researchers want to honor both the historic size of the fossils but also the farming community that first stumbled upon the remains.
“It will be named describing its magnificence and in honor to both the region and the farm owners who alerted us about the discovery,” they said.
This was the second major titanosaur find in 2014. Back in January, a team of Pennsylvania scientists uncovered fossils belonging to the Yongjinglong datangi during an excavation in China.
Carbaillido and Pol say the 150 fossils were found in close proximity to other species, including carnivores. They say the unusual placement means the dinosaurs likely died in a draught, either due to dehydration or after getting stuck in the mud.
“It’s like two semi trucks, one after another, and the equivalent of more than 14 African elephants together in weight,” Carballido said. “Such dimensions put the focus on the extent to which these animals may have grown. It’s a real paleontological treasure,” he added.
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Dinosaur quantitative easing.
How grand that we can still find such magnificent evidence of our past!
Assuming it were 100% herbivore, it would have had to consume many hundreds of pounds or kilos of greens a day. Now extrapolate that to an environment which had the immense plant life to support that diet!
And here I thought this was going to be a thread about farm girls.
Carry on.
I call bullshit , that is a pig leg bone .JUST A REALLY BIG PIG.
The shrimp from that time would have eaten you bb.
I thought this post was about Smokey and his 12″ python, may it rest in peace.
75 tons stuck in the mud. Wonder if it had any natural enemies, since a T-Rex would only nibble at its knee.
I thought this was going to be a thread about us “big girls”, lol. I always blame my need to shop at Lane Bryant (and I even have bonus points on my credit card, argh argh) on my “big bones”.
This is freaking amazing find – and this is why it is so freaking kewl:
The entire 165 MILLION years of the dinosaurs was the hottest, wettest and highest CO2 time on our planet. In fact, the amount of CO2 in the last 2 of the 3 ages of the dinosaurs was FIVE times what it is today. The hot, lush and moist conditions supported a diversity and sheer volume of biomass that the planet has ever seen.
Funny, no human beings were involved in all the CO2 generation. And funny how the AGW crowd thinks that MORE LIFE on planet Earth is a bad thing.
So when they dig up these 65 foot, 77 ton, PLANT eating dinosaurs, this is a direct reason why global warming is GOOD and why CO2 is GOOD for plants.
Go fossil fuels!!!