Nagaтιтan chaiyaphumensis: Southeast Asia’s Largest тιтanosaur – A 27-Metre Giant Weighing as Much as Nine Elephants Unearthed in Thailand

In a May 2026 Scientific Reports paper, Thai and international researchers have formally described Nagaтιтan chaiyaphumensis, the largest dinosaur ever discovered in Southeast Asia. The partial skeleton, found by a villager near a communal pond in Chaiyaphum Province, northeastern Thailand, comes from the Early Cretaceous Khok Kruat Formation (~120–100 million years ago).

Estimated at 27 metres long and an astonishing 45–54 tonnes—equivalent to nine adult African elephants—this colossal somphospondylan тιтanosauriform dwarfs all previously known Southeast Asian sauropods. A single front limb bone measures 1.78 metres, taller than most humans.

The name combines “Naga,” the legendary serpent of Thai and Southeast Asian mythology, with “тιтan” and the province of discovery. Phylogenetic analysis places Nagaтιтan within Euhelopodidae, but it does not form an endemic clade with the region’s other known sauropods (Phuwiangosaurus and Tangvayosaurus). Its diagnostic vertebral features highlight greater тιтanosauriform diversity than previously recognised.

Crucially, Nagaтιтan is the geologically youngest sauropod in Thailand—“the last тιтan”—before rising sea levels submerged much of the region later in the Cretaceous. Its mᴀssive size supports models linking Middle Cretaceous warming and expanded dry, open habitats to a boom in giant Asian sauropods.

Discovered by chance and now the 14th named dinosaur from Thailand, Nagaтιтan proves Southeast Asia hosted true giants and forces a re-evaluation of тιтanosauriform biogeography across the continent. The “last тιтan” has finally stepped into the light, rewriting the record of the largest land animals ever to walk the region.