Officials in Australia have confirmed the discovery of a previously undiscovered species of dinosaur, the largest ever found on the continent, and one of the largest to have ever lived. A study published Monday in the scientific journal Paleontology and Evolutionary Science describes how bones originally discovered in 2006 have been officially designated as Australotitan…
A paper published this week in the online scientific journal Paleontology and Evolutionary Science detailed their findings.
Credit: Vladislav Konstantinov / Scott Hocknull/ Eromanga Museum/ Queensland Museum
“Australotitan cooperensis adds to the growing list of uniquely Australian dinosaur species discovered in Outback Queensland, and just as importantly showcases a totally new area for dinosaur discovery in Australia,” said Dr. Scott Hocknull, lead researcher at the Queensland Museum and the University of Melbourne, in a press release.
Titanosaurs are a diverse bunch and includes species ranging from huge terrestrial vertebrates down to smaller sauropods not much bigger than modern-day elephants. When it was alive, Australotitan measured between 82-98 feet long, stood 16.4-21.3 feet high, and had a total mass of somewhere between 23 and 74 tons.
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Researchers discover Australia s largest dinosaur, and its size is mindblowing [details]
Researchers have nicknamed this newly discovered dinosaur, the southern titan
Dinosaur fossil
Researchers have confirmed the discovery of a new dinosaur species in Australia that is as tall as a two-storied building and as long as a basketball court. Scientists made this conclusion after analyzing a fossilized skeleton in 2007 on a farm in southwest Queensland, near Cooper Creek.
Mindblowing dinosaur discovery
According to researchers who took part in this study, the newly discovered dinosaur species could be 16 to 21 feet tall and might be 98 feet long, making it one of the biggest animals ever roamed on earth. The newly classified species has been named Australotitan cooperensis, and researchers have nicknamed it the southern titan.