Oldest Fossilized Titanosaur Found in Argentina
- Details
- Category: Earth, Air, Space Science
- Published on Friday, 22 January 2021 19:01
- Written by Janet Walker
Portions of the tail and pelvic girdle from a giant fossilized titanosaur, one of the largest known dinosaurs to roam the earth, was recently unearthed in Neuquén Province in Argentina's northwest Patagonia, by an Argentinian paleontologist team.
"It is a huge dinosaur, but we expect to find much more of the skeleton in future field trips, so we'll have the possibility to address with confidence how really big it was," Alejandro Otero, a paleontologist with Argentina's Museo de La Plata, told CNN via email," CNN reported.
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The 24 vertebrae from the tail and pelvic gridle. perhaps the largest titanosaur to ever be found, was known to roam the earth some 98 million years ago. Titanosaur's have been found on every continent except Antarctica.
"In research published in the journal Cretaceous Research, experts say they believe the creature to be "one of the largest sauropods ever found" and could exceed the size of a Patagotitan, a species which lived 100 million to 95 million years ago and measured up to a staggering 37.2 meters (122 feet) long," CNN reported.
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The group, sponsored by Argentina's The Zapala Museum, Museo de La Plata, Museo Egidio Feruglio and the universities of Río Negro and Zaragoza, were excavating in an area known as the Candeleros Formation which is rich with fossilized deposits.
Before the current unnamed titanosaur was unearthed, a similar titanosaurian sauropod, distinctive by its long giraffe like neck, short round body, a long tail and four pillar-like legs, had also been unearthed in the same region.
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Also unearthed in the same geological region two sauropods, the largest animals to have lived on land, and two theropods, which are considered saurischian or reptile-hipped essentially lizards who walked on two feet.
Other finds in The Candeleros include turtles, frogs, iguanas, reptiles, snakes, long-legged dinosaurs, birds, and other fossilized creatures.
