57 Tons of Fun

The largest dinosaur, a long-necked herbivore weighing in at about 57 tons and stretching out to 120 feet or so, was the Patagotitan, discovered in 2017. This big guy outsized the previous “largest,” a slightly smaller Argentinosaurus, unearthed in 1993.

Now comes a new contender. The remains of another, as yet unnamed, giant was recently discovered in Argentina’s Neuquén province. Paleontologists there have uncovered about two dozen vertebrae, hip, and shoulder bones from this gargantuan beast that stomped the Earth 98 million years ago. But scientists can only estimate how big this sauropod (“lizard-footed”) grew to be. “The episodic media battle over the largest sauropod is fueled nearly entirely from incomplete remains,” paleontologist Cary Woodruff told Discover magazine. We may never know.

Meanwhile a more complete set of remains of a different kind of dino was just discovered in England. Officials at Anglian Water and the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust said this week they had uncovered an ichthyosaur (“fish lizard”) skeleton. This carnivorous predator, colloquially called a “sea dragon,” terrorized prey 180 millions ago and was over 32 feet long, with a six foot skull that weighed about a ton.

That’s not quite Argentina-big, but it’s pretty big. “During this time period, it would have been right at the top of the food chain,” said paleontologist Dean Lomax, who led the excavation. “It’s an ultimate apex predator, perhaps one of the biggest animals in the sea worldwide.”

Photo credit:: Matthew Power / Anglian Water & Warpaintcobra / iStock / Getty Images Plus