If you thought the 85ft-tall (25 metre) Diplodocus was big, think again.
Paleontologists recently unearthed a new species of тιтanosaur that would have measured a staggering 121ft-long (37 metres) when it roamed the Earth 102 million years ago.
The discovery was made in Argentina, and in a forthcoming documentary, naturalist Sir David Attenborough will tell the story of what led experts to make the amazing find.
Paleontologists recently unearthed a species of тιтanosaur (model shown right) that would have measured a staggering 121ft-long (37 metres) when it roamed Earth 102 million years ago. The discovery was made in Argentina, and in a forthcoming TV show, Sir David Attenborough (left) will tell the story of how it was found
The vegetarian тιтanosaur is thought to have been the biggest animal ever to have walked the Earth, weighing 70 metric tons – the equivalent of 14 African elephants.
Compared to a large Diplodocus – one of the most easily recognisable dinosaurs – the тιтanosaur was a whopping 36ft (11 metres) longer.
To put that into perspective, the prehistoric creature would have been the length of four double-decker buses.
In the documentary, due to air on BBC on 25 January, the famous broadcaster and naturalist will tell the tale of how in 2014, a shepherd spotted the tip of a gigantic fossil bone sticking out of a rock in La Flecha Farm in the Chubut Province in the Argentinian desert.
When the news reached palaeontologists at the Egidio Feruglio Palaeontology Museum (MEF) in Trelew, Argentina they set up camp at the discovery site.
In the documentary, due to air on BBC on 25 January, the famous broadcaster and naturalist will tell the tale of how in 2014, a shepherd spotted the tip of a gigantic fossil bone sticking out of a rock in the Argentinian desert. The excavation site is shown
Compared to a large Diplodocus, the тιтanosaur was a whopping 36ft (11 metres) longer. To put that into perspective, the prehistoric creature would have been the length of four double-decker buses. This graphic shows how Sir Attenborough would have looked stood next to the beast
The first bone turned out to be an 8ft-long (2.4metre) thigh bone – the largest ever found (shown left and right with Sir David Attenborough). By the end of the dig, the paleontologists had uncovered more than 220 bones and 80 teeth at the same site
Analysis of the leg bones show that the vast тιтanosaurs were young adults, but still growing. So the fully grown specimen would have been even bigger. This dinosaur is able to be much more accurately measured than Argentinosaurus (illustrated) was, because only a dozen of the latter’s bones were ever found
