The long-necked dinosaur, which has not been identified as Garumbatitan morellensis, lurked across Spain roughly 122 million years ago. The creature's unusual bone shape could harbor clues regarding the unique evolution of sauropods.
Newly Identified Titan Dinosaur
The giant sauropod was never seen before. According to the fossil findings, it used to roam present-day Spain roughly 122 million years ago. The dinosaur may have been quite primitive, which could aid scientists with the study of the evolution of these massive creatures.
The dinosaur was found during excavations at the fossil site of Sant Antoni de la Vesap close to Morella city from the years 2005 to 2008. The fossil remains of at least three individual dinosaurs were found at the site. The findings include a huge vertebrate, long bones, and two sets of foot bones that are almost complete. The foot bone findings, specifically, are extremely rare for sauropods.
The fossil findings date back to roughly 145 million to 66 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period.
With the available fossil findings, researchers find it hard to gauge the exact size of the G. morellensis. However, according to paleontologist Pedro Mocho from the University of Lisbon, one of the individuals may have had a massive size as its vertebrae spanned over 1 meter in width and its femur could have reached up to two meters in length.
Based on these bone sizes, the newly identified dinosaur may have had the average size for titanosaurs, which could have gone up to a basketball court's size. Its foot and leg bone shape also shows that the dinosaur may have been a primitive sauropod belonging to the Somphospondyli subgroup, which includes titanosaurs and other elongated sauropods.
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Sauropods and Titanosaurs
Sauropods, such as the Brachiosaurus and Diplodocus, are herbivorous and four-legged dinosaurs that have long necks and tails that could become gigantic. The G. morellensis dinosaur is part of a sauropod subgroup called titanosaurs. These were the biggest kinds of sauropods and the only sauropod lineage that lived until the asteroid impact that killed dinosaurs around 66 million years ago.
Among the group of titanosaurs, the largest ones are Argentinosaurus huinculensis and Patagotitan mayorum. Scientists are still debating which one was heavier. However, both of these creatures could have weighed over 70 tons.
Though titanosaurs were the heaviest kinds of sauropods, they were not the longest ones. The list-topper for length goes to the Supersaurus, which was roughly 39 meters long.
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