The gigantic era of the dinosaurs, when giant creatures wandered in the nature of the primeval earth, was for a time populated by numerous animals, but some larger than the animals called titanosaurs.
These gigantic Cretaceous Samples belonged to a diverse and dominant group of sauropod dinosaurs, all defined by their XXL size, long neck and tail, and four-legged body structure.
Now a team of South American paleontologists has unearthed the fossilized remains of a massive 98 million-year-old titanosaurus in the province of Neuquén in northwestern Patagonia, and it is perhaps the largest terrestrial dinosaur monster ever discovered.
Led by researchers from the Zapala Museum, Museo de La Plata, Museo Egidio Feruglio and the universities of Río Negro and Zaragoza, the petrified remains were extracted from the dense sedimentary deposits of the site known as the Candeleros Formation.
As described in a new study published in the online journal Cretaceous Research, the fossils’ 24 vertebrae of the tail and portions of the excavated pelvic and thoracic girdle apparently belong to a new titanosaurus whose enormous size obscures mega-family members. previously discovered, such as Patagotitan.
The terrestrial giant, first cataloged in 2008 and found in the desert near La Flecha, lived 100 million to 95 million years ago and measured to a colossal length of 122 feet.
Another enormous titanosaurus, excavated in southwestern Argentina in 1987 and officially titled Argentinosaurus, grew to 131 feet long and tilted the scales of more than 110 tons, about the weight of an average adult blue whale. This latest Patagonian specimen could possibly eliminate the body mass statistics of the previous world record holder.
“It’s a giant dinosaur, but we expect to find much more of the skeleton in future field trips, so we’ll have the opportunity to confidently address how big it really was,” studied co-author Alejandro Otero of Museo de La Plata told CNN.
Titanosaur remains are not relegated to modern South America and bones have been dug all over the world on every continent except Antarctica. The largest treasure of the largest animals, more than 40 tons, was encountered in the Patagonia region.
“In addition to the total size, the bones are articulated,” team member José Luis Carballido wrote in the museum’s official Facebook announcement. “Something we have not seen so far in dinosaurs. For now we find the articular vertebrae of the tail and hip bones. Phylogenetic analysis shows us that it is a basic form of the Patagotitan bloodline and is known as Lognkosauria , a group of South American titanosaurs. ‘
To determine a more accurate estimate of the ultimate size of this titanosaurus, scientists will continue to deepen its evolutionary mysteries, but preliminary data show that it is probably larger than Patagotitan majorum and likely to obscure its record as the largest terrestrial being. ever walked. the earth.
“The studied bones of this new sauropod are larger than those of Patagotitan, but because of no femur and humerus, we can not calculate the body mass,” Carballido notes in the same official post. “So, any comparison we make is unconvincing.”