Sciences. What did the new dinosaur species discovered in Australia look like?

A huge dinosaur whose fossils were discovered in 2006 in Australia has been officially recognized as a specimen of a new species. The animal was named “Australotitan coprensis”. It is one of the largest animals that walk the surface of the globe.

Dinosaur “is one of the five largest titanosaurs in the world”

This dinosaur belongs to the titanosaur group that lived nearly 100 million years ago. Specimens of this group of long-necked herbivorous dinosaurs are found on all continents.

Australotitan coprensis is estimated to be 5-6.5 meters high and 25-30 meters long, making it the largest known Australian dinosaur.

Long and boring selection

The fossilized bone was discovered in 2006 on the family farm of Robin Mackenzie, a thousand miles west of Brisbane, in the Eromanga Basin, and the skeleton is named “Cooper”, named after the state river. This discovery was initially kept a secret while researchers patiently carried out the excavation site. The skeleton was first shown to the public in 2007.

Scott Hocknall, a paleontologist at the Queensland Museum, explained that confirming Cooper did indeed belong to a new species was the result of a “very long and tedious process”. The research, which included 3-D comparisons of Cooper’s bones with those of his relatives, was published in the scientific journal Monday. berg.

Scott Hocknall said that several other dinosaur bones have been found in the same area, adding that more excavation is needed. “Results like this are just the tip of the iceberg,” he said.

The largest dinosaur known to date is the Patagotitan Mayorum, the ‘Patagonian Titan’, discovered in Argentina and described in 2017. Paleontologists have estimated that it could weigh about 70 tons, the equivalent of about 10 elephants in Africa and was about 37 meters long and eight meters wide at the withers. .

A few weeks ago, a dinosaur discovered in Mexico, Tlatolophus galorum, was officially recognized as a new species.