Australia is a land of gigantic snakes and spiders. But now, the land under is also famous for a large species of dinosaur.
What’s so special about the new dinosaur species?
Paleontologists discovered a gigantic dinosaur in Australia and named it Australotitan cooperensis. Researchers deduce that these animals undoubtedly roamed the Earth around 100 million years ago. The research, now published in PeerJ on June 7, 2021, is also available for viewing. Their gigantic sizes make them a member of the titanosaur family, a group of sauropods. They are long-necked plant-eating dinosaurs!
“Based on the preserved limb size comparisons. We estimate this new titanosaur is to be in the top five largest in the world,” said Robyn Mackenzie, the director of Eromanga Natural History Museum.
Paleontologists estimate that cooperensis species were about 5 to 6.5 meters tall and 25 to 30 meters in length. Studying the bones was not so easy. Scientists spent over a decade understanding the remains. Deciding its species was a task of biblical proportions. “The process of research has been a very long and painstaking task,” said Scott Hocknull, a paleontologist at the Queensland Museum.
The bones were studied using 3d scan models and by comparing them with remains of other dinosaurs that are closely related to Australotitan cooperensis. “We compared the three species found to the north, near Winton, to our new Eromanga giant and it looks like Australia’s largest dinosaurs were all part of one big happy family,” he added.
Australia: The land undiscovered
“Australotitan cooperensis adds to the growing list of uniquely Australian dinosaur species discovered in Outback Queensland, and just as importantly showcases a totally new area for dinosaur discovery in Australia,” he added.
The bones were first discovered about 15 years ago on Mackenzie’s family farm. They made the discovery in 2006 but, did not make it public until a year after. It is located about 621 miles from Brisbane in Eromanga Basin. . However, the bones were up for public display in 2007.
Surprisingly, there have been other remains found in this area. It is quite rich in paleontological samples. Researches have discovered many remains and, paleontologists believe that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Australia is one of the last frontiers for the discovery of dinosaurs. There is plenty more discovery!