Patagotitan
| Patagotitan Temporal range: Albian,
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Reconstructed skeleton and fossils on display at the American Museum of Natural History, New York | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Macronaria |
| Clade: | †Titanosauria |
| Clade: | †Lognkosauria |
| Genus: | †Patagotitan Carballido et al., 2017 |
| Type species | |
| Patagotitan mayorum Carballido et al., 2017
| |
Patagotitan is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod from the Cerro Barcino Formation in Chubut Province, Patagonia, Argentina. It contains a single species, P. mayorum, first announced in 2014 and then validly named in 2017 by José Carballido, Diego Pol and colleagues.[1][2]
Description
Size
P. mayorum has been estimated to have been 37 m (121 ft) long, with a weight of 63 tonnes (69 tons).[2] Initial estimates placed it at 40 m (130 ft) long with a weight of 77 tonnes (85 tons).[3][4] This makes it comparable to the next largest titanosaur, Puertasaurus (which weighed 73–83 tonnes (80–91 tons)[5][6]), and thus one of the largest land animals in Earth's history.
The researchers who described the animal stated:
Given the size of these bones, which surpass any of the previously known giant animals, the new dinosaur is the largest animal known that walked on Earth.
Upon its initial discovery, science writer Brian Switek cautioned that it was too early to calculate the exact size of the dinosaur.[7] Switek had said it may be revised to 34 m (112 ft) and 45 tonnes (50 tons).[citation needed]
Discovery and naming
The remains were initially discovered in 2011 by a farm laborer, in the desert near La Flecha, about 250 km (160 mi) west of Trelew.[8] Excavation was done by palaeontologists from the Museum of Paleontology Egidio Feruglio. The lead scientists on the excavation were Jose Luis Carballido and Diego Pol, with partial funding from The Jurassic Foundation. Seven partial skeletons, consisting of approximately 150 bones, were uncovered, and described as in "remarkable condition".
Paleoecology
Patagotitan lived during the Late Cretaceous period, between 95 and 100 million years ago, in what was then a forested region.[3][9][10]
Gallery
See also
References
- ^ Borenstein, Seth (9 August 2017). "Patagotitan mayorum: New study describes the biggest dinosaur ever". Phys.org. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
- ^ a b José L. Carballido; Diego Pol; Alejandro Otero; Ignacio A. Cerda; Leonardo Salgado ; Alberto C. Garrido ; Jahandar Ramezani ; Néstor R. Cúneo ; Javier M. Krause (2017). "A new giant titanosaur sheds light on body mass evolution among sauropod dinosaurs". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 284 (1860): 20171219. doi:10.1098/rspb.2017.1219.
- ^ a b Morgan, James. "BBC News - 'Biggest dinosaur ever' discovered". Bbc.com. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
- ^ Giant dinosaur slims down a bit. BBC News Science & Environment. [1]
- ^ Mazzetta, G.V.; Christiansen, P.; Farina, R.A. (2004). "Giants and bizarres: body size of some southern South American Cretaceous dinosaurs" (PDF). Historical Biology. 2004: 1–13. doi:10.1080/08912960410001715132.
- ^ Sellers, W. I.; Margetts, L.; Coria, R. A. B.; Manning, P. L. (2013). Carrier, David (ed.). "March of the Titans: The Locomotor Capabilities of Sauropod Dinosaurs". PLoS ONE. 8 (10): e78733. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0078733. PMC 3864407. PMID 24348896.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ Yong, Ed (18 May 2014). "Biggest Dinosaur Ever? Maybe. Maybe Not. – Phenomena". Phenomena.nationalgeographic.com. doi:10.1186/1741-7007-10-60. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ "Superdinosaur Fossils Found in Argentina". The Australian. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
- ^ Gillian Mohney via Good Morning America. "Researchers Discover Fossils of Largest Dino Believed to Ever Walk the Earth - ABC News". Abcnews.go.com. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
- ^ "Argentine fossil biggest dinosaur ever: scientists". NY Daily News. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
 | This dinosaur-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This Argentina-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |