Uncovering the Unknown Body Parts of the Largest Beast on Every Continent

It is the fossilized skull of a titanosaur, the largest branch of the sauropod dinosaur family .

Titanosaurs are the largest group of creatures to have ever walked the continents, with the largest ever identified weighing up to 69 tons, which is only surpassed by the ocean-dominating blue whale of all creatures on Earth.

The skull of a giant beast has just been excavated - (Photo: Royal Society Open Science).

The newly excavated skull belongs to Diamantinasaurus matildae, not the largest of the titanosaurs, measuring around 16 metres long and weighing 25 tonnes. However, with the newly revealed details, it promises to provide a detailed face of the great beast group to which it belongs.

According to Sci-News, only three specimens, including one with several other skull details of Diamantinasaurus matildae, have ever been excavated.

The new specimen, named Ann , is a major breakthrough because it is a nearly complete skull with parts previously unknown in this species, as well as in the larger titanosaur group.

In addition, a nearly complete hind foot of the beast was also revealed in the Winton Formation, according to the research team leader - paleontologist Stephen Poropat from Curtin University (Perth - Australia).

Portrait of the "beast" recreated by scientists - (Photo: Elena Marian).

"This skull gives us a rare glimpse into the anatomy of a giant sauropod that lived in northeastern Australia nearly 100 million years ago. When we analyzed the remains, we also found similarities between Ann's skull and the skull of a giant dinosaur called Sarmientosaurus musacchioi that lived in South America at the same time," Dr Poropat continued.

The new specimen includes well-preserved details of the braincase, the bone that forms the back part of the skull near the jaw joint and also provides the shape of the teeth.

This beast was one of the most primitive giant dinosaurs, and could promise to explain why giant dinosaurs were so successful in spreading across the world during the dinosaurs' heyday - the late Cretaceous, before being abruptly ended by the Chicxulub asteroid.

This may be related to the unusually warm period from 100 million years ago to 95 million years ago, which was much warmer than it is now. The ice-free Antarctica then became a promised land for sauropods and may have been their home.

The study was recently published in the scientific journal Royal Society Open Science.