Did the world's largest dinosaur live in Australia? |
Did the world's largest dinosaur live in Australia? Posted: 3rd May 2007 Breaking news today is that fossil bones from a titanosaur that was found in Australia have gone on display at the Queensland Museum. The bone is believed to have come from a specimen that was perhaps as long as 28 meters (92 feet), which greatly exceeds the largest titanosaurus previously found in Australia which was "only" an estimated 18 meters (59 feet) long. Titanosaurus was a herbivorous sauropod dinosaur that lived in the mid-Cretaceous period, around 95 million years ago. The first example was found in India in 1877, and it is named after the mythical Titans - deities of ancient Greece. The discovery in Australia, was made in southwestern Queensland, and consists of a humerous (upper arm) bone around 1.5 meters (5 feet) long and weighing 100 kg (220 pounds). The animal from which it is from has been nicknamed "Cooper". Australian scientists are now hopeful that they will eventually fossils from animals that are even larger than Cooper, and thus scoop the record for the world's largest dinosaur - which it is currently jointly held by South America's Argentinosaurus and Africa's Paralititan, both of which also belong to the titanosaur family. One indication that such a find may be made in future are 1.7 meter (5.5 feet) wide dinosaur footprints found near Broome in Western Australia, which are highly suggestive of an even larger animal. Here are some news reports on the story:
*Please note: Although this story has a good-sounding headline, the headline is factually incorrect. Cooper the titanosaurus is believed to have lived during the Cretaceous, not the Jurassic! |
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