Australutean. Paleontologists have identified one of the largest dinosaurs in the world

According to paleontologists, it is the largest known dinosaur species on the Australian continent. Titanosaurus, named Latin for Australotitan coprensis, was the length of a basketball court and the length of a two-story house, according to ABC researchers.

The Independent reported that the animal’s skeletal remains were found as early as 2006, and experts have been working on its identification since the following year.

“To confirm that australotitan was a new species, we had to compare its bones with those of other species from Queensland and around the world,” explained Scott Hocknall, a paleontologist at the Queensland Museum. “It was a very long and hard job,” he said.

“Comparing limb size, this new species of titanosaur is one of the largest in the world,” said Robin Mackenzie, who with her husband, Stewart, found bones on a family farm and later set up a natural history museum nearby. Eromanga.

According to Hocknell, it may specifically belong to the 10 to 15 largest known prehistoric species of lizards. In addition, the Cooper River, which flows through the discovery area, is named after a sauropod dinosaur – Australotitan coprensis.

Sauropod dinosaurs lived in the Cretaceous period and ate a vegetarian diet. They had a small head, a very long neck, a long tail, and strong legs. Australian researchers wrote in their study that this new species lived from 92 to 96 million years ago, at a time when Australia was associated with Antarctica.

Hocknoll expects that larger dinosaur specimens can be discovered in the area — given that herbivorous sauropods were often prey for giant carnivorous theropods.

“We have already found quite a few small theropod dinosaurs in Australia. However, because of them, Australotitans will not worry. This suggests that there must have been a large predatory dinosaur somewhere. We have not discovered it yet.”