A big one!
There's a new heavyweight champion in the books: Patagotitan mayorum, a long-necked titanosaur, is not only the world's largest dinosaur on record but also the largest known land-dwelling animal in history, a new study finds.The 69-ton (62 metric tons) Patagotitan mayorum lived about 100 million years ago in what is now Patagonia, Argentina. In all, researchers found more than 200 fossilized bones from at least six individuals.
But a bone analysis revealed that the six uncovered P. mayorum individuals weren't fully grown, suggesting that there are even larger dinosaurs out there waiting to be found. [Read the full story on Patagotitan mayorum, the largest dinosaur on record]
Enormous dinosaur
Enormous At nearly 70 tons, Patagotitan mayorum is the largest dinosaur on record.
The previous record holder was another titanosaur from Patagonia called Argentinosaurus hiunculensis.
Patagonia ranch
Ranch worker Aurelio Hernandez discovered the fossils on La Flecha ranch in Patagonia, Argentina, in 2012.
Giant bones
Hernandez told one of the ranch's owners, Oscar Mayo, about his finding. When Mayo came to see them, he said he thought that they were likely dinosaur fossils.
Museum involvement
Mayo notified researchers at the Museum of Paleontology Egidio Feruglio in Trelew, a city in the Chubut province of Argentina.
Lengthy excavation
Paleontologists from the museum spent 18 months excavating more than 200 titanosaur fossils.
Fossils galore
An analysis showed that the bones belonged to at least six different titanosaur individuals.
Titanosaur territory
Patagonia is known for its vast number of dinosaur — especially titanosaur — fossils.
Genus name
Researchers named the dinosaur Patagotitan mayorum. The genus name refers to Patagonia, where the creature lived 100 million years ago.
Species name
The species name of Patagotitan mayorum honors the Mayo family, who welcomed the paleontologists onto their land during the excavation.
Giant femur
A titanosaur femur, or thighbone, measured 8 feet (2.4 meters) long.
