It is a great month for paleontology because the latest discovery holds great importance to the way people view dinosaurs. Recently, in the region of Patagonia, Argentina, were found fossils that supposedly belong to the largest known dinosaur species at this point.
The study claims that there were found fossils of six young adult dinosaurs and estimates that the Patagotitan mayorum weighted no more than 61 tons and was six meter high (20 ft) and 35 meters long (115 ft). The Patagotitan dinosaur has a body so massive that its weight was compared to a Boeing 737 aircraft, its length approximated three London buses and its height reached a male giraffe. These measurements were also reinforced by Dr. Jose Carballido, who works at the Museo Paleontologico Egidio Feruglio from Argentina, who stated that the Patagotitan mayorum can be considered the largest known dinosaurs ever to walk the Earth.
The recently discovered species is said to belong in a category for large dinosaurs named titanosaurs and the Patagotitan mayorum is it believed to have existed during the Cretaceous period, over 100 million years ago. Moreover, the species is considered to have been a sauropod, which means there is a possibility that it was a plant-eating dinosaur that stood on four legs and had a long tail and neck (to reach higher vegetation).
The circumstances the fossils were discovered state a lot about the nature of this kind of species: being discovered six different fossils belonging to the same species, it is safe to assume the titanosaurs used to engage in social activity and interaction.
The researchers explain why the titanosaurs reached such great dimension by assuming it lived during an explosion of flowering plants that allowed the species to thrive. The co-author of the study, Diego Pol, believes that the dinosaurs were probably not so scary despite their intimidating body because trying to run and move quickly is quite challenging for massive animals.
To get a more accurate picture of the real dimensions of the Patagotitan mayorum, the species is believed to make the famous Tyrannosaurus Rex look like a dwarf in comparison, being added that it is like putting a lion near an elephant. Other assumptions are based on the fact that the fossils belonged to young versions of the titanosaurs and it is believed that the species are even bigger than what is known at the moment.
