Skeleton remains of new dinosaur weighing 9 elephants discovered by scientists: “The last titan”

Scientists have identified a giant new dinosaur in fossils found in Thailand, with the creature estimated to have weighed nine old elephants.

The long-necked creature stretched 88 meters and weighed 27 tons, according to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports.

It probably roamed what is now Thailand between 100 and 120 million years ago and was the largest ever found in Southeast Asia, researchers said.

They estimate that the new dinosaur had the same heft as nine older Asian elephants.

“Our dinosaur is huge by most people’s standards – it’s about 10 tonnes heavier than Dippy the Diplodocus,” said lead researcher Thitiwoot Sethapanichsakul, referring to the massive replica previously on display at London’s Natural History Museum.

Thai Ph.D. A student called the newly discovered sauropod “the last titan” because it was unearthed from one of the smallest rocks where dinosaurs were found in Thailand, according to University College London.

The region later became a shallow sea, he added, “so this may be the last or the latest large sauropod we will find in Southeast Asia.”

The first fossils of the giant creature were unearthed a decade ago by locals in northeastern Thailand, but the excavation was not completed until 2024, according to the study, published on Thursday.

The fossils were partially similar to those of previously discovered sauropods, but had enough unique features to be considered a new species.

It has been named Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis “a mythical snake-like creature found in various Asian cultures, especially in northeastern Thailand, often associated with water and Buddhism, and with the titan, a giant in Greek mythology,” the authors wrote.

When the Nagatitans roamed the region, the ecosystem’s largest carnivore was a relative of the carnivorous dinosaur Carcharodontosaurus, which was about 26 meters long and weighed 3.5 tons.

“At that size, it was much smaller than Nagatitan. Being full, Nagatitans probably had much less to fear about being eaten,” Sethapanichsakul told Reuters news agency.

A life-size reconstruction is on display at Bangkok’s Thainosaur Museum, according to University College London.

In 2023, a dinosaur skeleton revealed by scientists in northeastern Thailand it was also considered a newly discovered species. The skeleton of Minimocursor phunoiensis – which lived 150 million years ago in what is now the Khorat Plateau – represents “one of the best-preserved dinosaurs ever found in Southeast Asia,” scientists said at the time.