DREXEL UNIVERSITY, JENNIFER HALLTitanosaurs, a subgroup of plant-eating sauropods, were among the most enormous dinosaurs known to walk the earth. An exceptionally complete specimen of a new species provides a better estimate of just how colossal these herbivores were. The fossilized titanosaur, named Dreadnoughtus schrani, was discovered in Argentina and weighed approximately 59.3 metric tons (approximately 130,734 pounds), according to results published today (September 4) in Scientific Reports.
Previous titanosaur specimens were incomplete, provided few details of the animals’ anatomy, and were difficult to use to estimate overall size. Prior to this most recent discovery, the most complete older titanosaur specimen, of a species named Futalognkosaurus, lacked a skull, tail, and most of its limb bones.
Although other titanosaurs may have been heavier, “what we can say with certainty is this is the biggest land animal that we can actually put a number on,” study author Kenneth Lacovara of Drexel University in Pennsylvania told The New York Times.
This new specimen, first uncovered in 2005, took Lacovara and his colleagues four years to completely unearth. The team recovered nearly 200 bones, representing approximately 70 percent of the skeleton. “Most bones are exquisitely preserved, ...
