TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A study reveals a new species who is the heavyweight champion of all dinosaurs, and makes Tyrannosaurus rex look as scary as a child. Weighing 76 tons, the plant-eating giant is as heavy as a spacecraft.
This dinosaur fossil was found in Southern Argentina in 2012. Researchers who examined and tested the fossils said this long-necked creature was the largest of a large dinosaur group called titanosaurs.
"There is one small part of this family that has an incredible size," said Diego Pol from the paleontological museum , Egidio Feruglio, in Argentina, who became one of the authors of a study published on Tuesday August 8, 2017, in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
The researchers named the dinosaur Patagotitan Mayorum, referring to the region of Patagonia where it was found and the Greek word titan meaning great. Both names honor a family farm that hosts researchers.
"Six fossils of this species were studied and dated some 100 million years ago, based on the ashes found around them," Pol said. This dinosaur has an average length of 122 feet (37 meters) and a height of nearly 20 feet (6 meters) from the shoulder.
A skeleton structure of this dinosaur has been exhibited at the American Museum of Natural History. The structure was so large that the dinosaur head nearly goes into the hallway of the New York museum.
"The Legendary T.Rex and other meat eaters look like dwarfs when you place them near one of these giant titanosaurs," said Pol. "It's like you're putting an elephant near a lion."
"Scientists have known various titanosaurs, but this is a new species and a new genus, which is a larger group," Pol said. Another titanosaur called Argentinosaurus was previously considered the largest.
"I do not think they're scary at all," said Pol. "They may be slow moving animals, wake up, walk around, try to run, this is really challenging for the big animals," he said.
"The big question is how these dinosaurs got so big," Pol said. Researchers are still studying it, but mention it may have something to do with the explosion of flowering plants at the time.
"It's hard to argue this is not a big deal when it comes to (possibly) the largest land animal ever discovered," says University of Maryland paleontologist,Thomas Holtz, who is not part of the study, via email.
Kristi Curry Rodgers, a paleontologist at Macalester College who was not part of the study, praised this important work. She says this Patagotitan bone shows signs that they have not completed their growth. "It means that there are bigger dinosaurs out there to be found."
AP | ERWIN Z
