Researchers at the country’s national scientific council believe that the petrified titanosaurus roamed Patagonia 140 million years ago, at the beginning of the Cretaceous.
This new analysis would mean that titanosaurs, a diverse group of long-necked, herbivorous dinosaurs, lived longer ago than previously thought.
“The most important thing about this fossil, besides being a new species of titanosaurus, is that it is the oldest worldwide for this group,” said Pablo Gallina of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (Conicet).
He added that 140 million year old fossils are ‘very rare’.
The monster, which was discovered seven years ago in the province of Neuquén in northwestern Patagonia, was named after paleontologist Sebastian ‘El Ninja’ Apesteguia and technician Rogelio Zapata ‘Ninjatitan zapatai’.
It is not only the oldest titanosaur ever discovered, but also the largest.
Although the fossil is incomplete, the pelvis and vertebrae indicate that the Ninjatitan zapatai was about 20 meters long. Its next of kin, the Andesaurus, grew 18 feet long.
The largest animal that has ever existed remains the blue whale which can grow up to 33.5 m long.
Titanosaurs were still roaming the earth when dinosaurs became extinct about 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous.