100 Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Weighed As Much As a Dozen Elephants

First Posted: Jan 20, 2016 04:40 PM EST
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Researchers have discovered the fossils remains of two titanosaurs, one of the largest dinosaur species from 100 million years ago. The head to tail remains extends a third the length of a football field, and it weighs as much as dozen elephants - or the same as the largest humpback whale, according to the study. The researchers believe that these enormous creatures shook the ground with each of their steps in the landmass of Patagonia, their location now modern Argentina.

"You'd definitely feel vibrations when lots of them were moving, just like a herd of buffalo shakes the ground," Matthew Lamanna, coauthor of the study, said in a news release. "But they definitely walked rather than ran. I don't think titanosaurs could move very quickly."

The researchers estimated that this species of dinosaurs were about 82 to 92 feet and weighed up to 66 tons (132,000 pounds). These dinosaurs were known was 'Notocolossus gonzalezparejasi' and they existed during the Cretaceous Period about 86 million years ago, according to the researchers. These dinosaurs had enormously large necks which allowed them to eat from the ground to the tree tops.

The fossils were found in an Argentinean desert, which contained some of the world's largest dinosaur fossils. These dinosaurs lived during one of the hottest periods in the last 600 million years and their fossilized footprints indicates that they migrated in herds, according to the researchers.

"Hopefully, with this wealth of new and exciting fossils to study, we'll finally be able to understand more about giant titanosaurs, the biggest creatures that ever lived on land," Lamanna said.

The findings of this study were published in Scientific Reports.

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