The new heavyweight champion of the world has just been crowned. While its bones were found in southern Argentina in 2012, the significance of Patagotitan mayorum, a long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur that lived 102 million years ago, was finally unveiled in research published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B in 2017. The dinosaur weighed about 76 tons (69 metric tons), was likely 120 feet (37 m) long, and nearly 20 feet (6 m) high at the shoulder. The archeological find included a femur, or thigh bone, that measures 8 feet (2.4 m) in length. Patagotitan mayorum is a new species in a diverse group of prehistoric creatures called titanosaurs. It is the largest land animal yet to have been discovered.
Big news from the prehistoric world:
- Another titanosaur, dubbed Argentinosaurus, was previously thought to be the largest land animal that has ever lived on Earth.
- Tyrannosaurus rex “look like dwarfs when you put them against one of these giant titanosaurs,” said researcher Diego Pol. “They were probably massive, slow-moving animals.”
- A full-scale model of the lumbering titanosaur can be seen at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
