Season of the Titanosaur
While Brontosaurus, Diplodocus, and Brachiosaurus were the dominant sauropods in the dinosaur books I grew up reading (along with Supersaurus and the more dubious Seismosaurus and Ultrasauros) titanosaurs have gradually been eclipsing these Jurassic giants in both size estimates and public exposure. They prove that sauropods were still going strong during the Late Cretaceous and that the largest species were by no means limited to the Morrison Formation.
This sea change began in 1993 with the description of Argentinosaurus. Though known only from a handful of bones, they clearly hinted at a truly awe-inspiring sauropod. Expeditions in Patagonia continued to churn out titanosaurs weighing around or above 50 tons and approaching 100 feet in length: Puertasaurus, Futalognkosaurus, Dreadnoughtus, and most recently, Notocolossus. These giants weren't limited to Argentina either: In 2001, American paleontologists described Paralititan, a titanosaur around the same size as Argentinosaurus and which lived alongside Spinosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus, two of the largest-known meat-eating dinosaurs. Other giants of lesser renown include Bruhathkayosaurus from India, Ruyangosaurus from China, Sauroposeidon and Alamosaurus from the southwestern United States (the former initially believed to be a brachiosaur and the latter originally believed to have been smaller), "Angloposeidon" from England, and an unnamed titanosaur from Australia known unofficially as "Cooper".
Last month not only saw the debut of Notocolossus, but also the mounting of a titanosaur skeletal mount at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Yet another Argentine animal, this one measures over 120 feet long and is estimated to have weighed around 70 tons, making it the current leading candidate for the largest dinosaur. This display will be up until January of 2020, and as a new exhibit in the country's leading natural history museum, seems to me like a crowning moment for titanosaurs.
While I'm much happier with this titanosaur drawing than the one I did of Futalognkosaurus a year and a half ago (see top of the post), I still had trouble capturing the (rear) right leg, which still looks a bit out-of-place. Like "Cooper", this titanosaur still lacks a proper name, though I've seen the name "Flechasaurus" applied to it given the bones' proximity to the town of La Flecha in Chubut. This dinosaur probably wasn't synonymous with any of the aforementioned Patagonian titanosaurs, due to differences in sediment age and its discovery in a different province from the others.
While Brontosaurus, Diplodocus, and Brachiosaurus were the dominant sauropods in the dinosaur books I grew up reading (along with Supersaurus and the more dubious Seismosaurus and Ultrasauros) titanosaurs have gradually been eclipsing these Jurassic giants in both size estimates and public exposure. They prove that sauropods were still going strong during the Late Cretaceous and that the largest species were by no means limited to the Morrison Formation.
This sea change began in 1993 with the description of Argentinosaurus. Though known only from a handful of bones, they clearly hinted at a truly awe-inspiring sauropod. Expeditions in Patagonia continued to churn out titanosaurs weighing around or above 50 tons and approaching 100 feet in length: Puertasaurus, Futalognkosaurus, Dreadnoughtus, and most recently, Notocolossus. These giants weren't limited to Argentina either: In 2001, American paleontologists described Paralititan, a titanosaur around the same size as Argentinosaurus and which lived alongside Spinosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus, two of the largest-known meat-eating dinosaurs. Other giants of lesser renown include Bruhathkayosaurus from India, Ruyangosaurus from China, Sauroposeidon and Alamosaurus from the southwestern United States (the former initially believed to be a brachiosaur and the latter originally believed to have been smaller), "Angloposeidon" from England, and an unnamed titanosaur from Australia known unofficially as "Cooper".
Last month not only saw the debut of Notocolossus, but also the mounting of a titanosaur skeletal mount at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Yet another Argentine animal, this one measures over 120 feet long and is estimated to have weighed around 70 tons, making it the current leading candidate for the largest dinosaur. This display will be up until January of 2020, and as a new exhibit in the country's leading natural history museum, seems to me like a crowning moment for titanosaurs.
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