In Patagonia, fossils of a gigantic dinosaur that lived 98 million years ago, at the time of the lower Cretaceous period, have been found. It could be the largest prehistoric creature found on Earth.
Exceptional discovery in Patagonia, where a group of paleontologists have unearthed the remains of a gigantic dinosaur. According to experts, the fossils found in the province of Neuquén, in Argentina, belong to a titanosaur that lived 98 million years ago, at the time of the lower Cretaceous period. And it would be the largest prehistoric creature found on Earth.
Details on the extraordinary find were reported in a study published in the journal Cretaceous Research by the experts of the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cienti'ficas y Técnicas (CONICET), who analyzed the bones of the titanosaurus, a species belonging to the heterogeneous group of sauropod dinosaurs. In total, 20 caudal and 4 posterior vertebrae and several appendicular bones were found.
VIDEO: ?? Scientists say pieces of 98-million-year-old fossilized bone belonging to a giant #sauropod discovered in southwest Argentina appear to be 10-20% larger than those attributed to Patagotitan mayorum, the biggest #dinosaur ever identified pic.twitter.com/6JQPG70H2g
- AFP News Agency (@AFP) January 21, 2021
"We think it is a titanosaur, - explains paleontologist Alejandro Otero of CONICET - one of the largest sauropods, characterized by enormous size, legs and an elongated tail, but the fossils do not seem to correspond with the other known sauropod remains," so, even if for now we have no way to prove it, it could also be a new species ".
The most mammoth specimens of titanosaurus, which weighed over 40 tons, have been discovered predominantly in Patagonia. However, without the analysis of the dinosaur's humerus or femur, it is not yet possible to determine what the precise weight of the prehistoric creature discovered in the province of Neuque'n was,
@Cretaceous Research
“It's a huge dinosaur, but we expect to find other elements of the skeleton in future field trips, so we'll have the chance to say with more certainty how big it actually was,” explains Alejandro Otero.
According to experts, the animal found is one of the largest titanosaurs, with a body mass greater than that of Patagotitan major, the sauropod that until today was considered the largest ever found and whose remains are preserved at the Museum of Natural History in New York.
Fonte: Cretaceous Research/Twitter
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