“Dreadnoughtus schrani” – New Dinosaur Species is Uncovered in Argentina

Drexel researchers working in Argentina have uncovered a new supermassive dinosaur species after unearthing a remarkably complete dinosaur skeleton. The research team, which includes three National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellows, say that the species, dubbed “Dreadnoughtus schrani” was 85 feet long and weighed in at about 65 tons.

“Dreadnoughtus schrani isin fact the largest land animal for which a body mass can be accurately calculated,” according to the report on the NSF web site. The video below describes “Dreadnoughtus schrani” in greater detail.

Watch “Dreadnoughtus schrani” video – new supermassive Dinosaur Species

The skeleton uncovered by the team is reported to be exceptionally complete, with over 70 percent of the bones, excluding the head, represented.

Other super-massive dinosaurs uncovered recently were very incomplete. This unprecedented find is providing researchers with “an unprecedented window into the anatomy and biomechanics of the largest animals to ever walk the Earth.”

“Dreadnoughtus schrani was astoundingly huge,” said Kenneth Lacovara, an associate professor in Drexel University’s College of Arts and Sciences, who discovered the Dreadnoughtus fossil skeleton in southern Patagonia in Argentina and led the excavation and analysis. “It weighed as much as a dozen African elephants or more than seven T. rex. Shockingly, skeletal evidence shows that when this 65-ton specimen died, it was not yet full grown. It is by far the best example we have of any of the most giant creatures to ever walk the planet.”

To read the complete article from the NSF, visit their web site at: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=132578&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click.