This is the largest dinosaur ever to exist on Earth

Scientists have identified the largest dinosaur on Earth weighing up to 75 tons.

The question of which largest dinosaur ever existed on Earth has been hotly debated by scientists in recent years. Recently, in a study scientists suggested a giant dinosaur called Argentinosaurus , which lived about 100 million to 90 million years ago.

The creature was first described in the early 1990s after a number of giant bones were found in Argentina and has long been considered the largest member of the Sauropoda family, a group of four-herbivorous dinosaurs. The long-legged legs are the largest terrestrial species ever to roam on Earth.

Image depicting Argentinosaurus.

In 2017, a team of scientists described another giant dinosaur called Patagotitan from Argentina, estimated to weigh about 69 tons. According to some estimates, the 69-ton body weight will make Patagotitan about 10% heavier than Argentinosaurus.

However, independent paleontologist Gregory Paul tried to clear up the debate by testing the different body masses of the largest dinosaur sauropod dinosaur known for a study published in the journal. Annals of the Carnegie Museum magazine.

"As soon as I saw the Patagotitan article claiming that it was the biggest I was very suspicious of, and comparing the size of the back vertebrae and femur quickly showed that their conclusion was certainly not accurate, Argentinosaurus. is a bigger animal , ' said Gregory Paul.

Many of the largest dinosaur species, such as Argentinosaurus and Patagotitan, belong to a subgroup called Titanosaur .

There are several other South American titanosaurs that can identify large animals such as Argentinosaurus and larger Patagotitan. The conclusion that the Patagotitan was the biggest contention from this war, but no one else mentioned this issue in the technical literature.

Since the 1980s, Paul has been manufacturing reconstructed dinosaur skeletons and has since created clay models submerged in water to measure their volume. This discovery was later used to make estimates of the true mass of dinosaurs.

"I still use the old technique and it produces results that are at least exactly the same as digital methods, perhaps better. I emphasize efforts to remove human skill factors from The mass estimates are misleading because at some point or other dinosaur mass recovery requires a high level of anatomical skills , ' Paul said.

In the latest research, Paul used these techniques to estimate the mass of the largest dinosaurs scientifically known. He discovered that the largest dinosaur in terms of actual body weight was Argentinosaurus, estimated to have a mass of 65-75 tons.

The Patagotitan came in second with an estimated volume of 50-55 tons , close to some estimates that the original descriptions of dinosaurs made when they used the same volumetric modeling techniques. The 69 tons that Patagotitan's descriptions put into research in 2017 are the result of digital methods.

Many titanosaur specimens including Argentinosaurus, are very incomplete, which makes it difficult to make reliable body mass estimates. However, the discovery of more complete titanosaurs in recent years, such as Patagotitan, Dreadnoughtus, Futalognkosaurus, has helped provide a framework for the proportions of these giant animals.

"Because the Patagotitan and a number of other remains have been able to reasonably restore the shape and mass of giant South American titanosaurs, we have a very good idea of ​​their relative mass, and The Patagotitan is also not the largest, weighing 70 tons as estimated in the original description.

It is based on extrapolation from the factors of bone strength that I and many others have long explained as being very unreliable, producing results in animals that vary as much as two factors. Although not perfect, volumetric models have an error of about 15% plus or minus. This new study is the first to give absolute and absolute values ​​for super titanosaur masses that in the method's plus and minus errors are unlikely to change much, ' Paul explained.

Paul emphasized in the study that the Pataogotitan is currently the largest known dinosaur from most skeletons, despite having more than one individual.