What was the largest dinosaur ever?
– Zavier, 14, Tauranga, New Zealand.
It’s a great question, Zavier. Paleontologists around the globe are very interested.
Let’s be honest, dinosaurs who break the records of the largest, longest, scariest, or fastest are fascinating to kids and adults alike. This is why one of the most popular dinosaurs, still to this day, is still Tyranosaurus rexThe tyrant King
The Jurassic Park franchise is so popular because of these record-breaking dinos. Imagine the scene in which Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor who plays Dr Alan Grant is shocked by the sauropod’s long neck reaching up the trees to the topmost leaves.
How do scientists determine the size and weight of a dinosaur? What were the largest dinosaurs to ever live?
Calculating dinosaur size
It would be simple to calculate the size of a dinosaur if it had a complete skeleton. The remarkable skeleton of a dinosaur is a sight to behold. Triceratops The skeletons on display in the Melbourne Museum show just how massive and powerful these animals were.
Scientists can measure bone dimensions (such as width, length or circumference), plug them into computer models and mathematical formulas, and compare those measurements with the ones of animals that are alive. Then they can calculate the size and weight for dinosaurs.
When you can see a near-complete skeleton like this, it’s easy to calculate the size of dinosaurs. Triceratops at Melbourne Museum.
Ginkgoales via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-NC-SA
Each palaeontologist will have their favourite computer model or formula. There are some that are more accurate, and this can cause heated debates!
In the field of palaeontology however, it is not uncommon to find skeletons that are incomplete. The bones of dinosaurs are often broken down in a procedure called “taphonomy”, which is what happens after the animal has died.
Size and weight estimations are more inaccurate the more fragmented remains of dinosaurs.
Reconstructed Skeleton of an A Patagotitan On display at the Natural History Museum in London
Getty Images
Titanosaurs: Enter the world of dinosaurs
We’d be able to travel to South America in the Cretaceous Period (roughly 143 to 66 millions years ago) and find that a large group of plant-eating, four-legged sauropods ruled this land. The sauropods would have been towering over us and shaking the earth with each step.
They were titanosaurs. The titanosaurs reached their maximum size during this time, but an asteroid crash into modern-day Mexico, 66 millions years ago, caused them to become extinct.
The titanosaurs are a group of dinosaurs that have a number of contenders for being the largest ever. My palaeontology class has pointed out that the list is not complete.
Based on the six partial skeletons we have, our best guess is that Patagotitan It is believed that the, which was 31 meters in length and weighed between 50-57 tons.
Some of the others could have been even larger. Argentinosaurus The calculated length and weight of the 30-35 metre long and 65-80 tonne vehicle is longer. The resulting vehicle is longer and heavier, measuring 30-35 metres in length with a weight of 65-80 tonnes. Puertasaurus It was estimated to have been around 30 meters long and 50 tons.
The available bone is not the only source of skeletal material. Argentinosaurus You can also find out more about the following: Puertasaursus The thighbone of the largest reptiles is a full sized human. Argentinosaurus It is 2,5 metres long. There is not enough fossilized material at this time to make these estimates confident.
Reconstruction of the ruins by an artist SpinosaurusIt is believed to be the world’s largest carnivorous dino.
Getty Images
Spinosaurus North Africa
The South American titanosaurs are an ocean away. Spinosaurus During the Cretaceous Period, they lived in North Africa.
It is a small margin. Spinosaurus It is believed to be the world’s largest meat-eating dinosaur. This carnivorous dino weighed 7.4 tons and measured 14 metres long. There are also other Cretaceous titans, such as Tyranosaurus rex North America Gigantosaurus South America Carcharodontosaurus North Africa
Spinosaurus It was unique among the predatory dinosaurs in being semi-aquatic, and having adapted for eating fish. In the image above, you can see how its skull shape is similar to that of a modern-day crocodile.
The Southern Hemisphere is experiencing a “fossil gold rush”. This may be due to the Jurassic Park television series.
Jurassic Park 2, which will be in theaters by July 2025, is all about finding prehistoric creatures on land, water, and the air.
The public, also known as fossil forecasters, is constantly making discoveries.
Who knows what the future holds? Who knows? Only one can exist!
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