Dreadnoughtus

dinosaur · giant · sauropod · Argentina

Massive sauropod dinosaur. Dreadnoughtus was a titanosaur, a type of long-necked dinosaur that grew to be one of the largest land animals ever. It stretched 26 meters (85 feet) from nose to tail, about as long as three school buses parked end to end.

Incredibly heavy creature. This dinosaur weighed up to 48 to 49 metric tons, which is like parking about 10 adult African elephants on a scale at the same time. That makes it one of the heaviest animals that ever walked on Earth.

Almost complete skeleton. Scientists found two partial skeletons of Dreadnoughtus in Argentina, and they were much more complete than many other giant dinosaur discoveries. This gave us a much better understanding of what this monster actually looked like.

Lived in Argentina long ago. Dreadnoughtus fossils were found in the Cerro Fortaleza Formation in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, in rocks from the Upper Cretaceous period, which was about 77 million years ago. The young dinosaur discovered was still not fully grown when it died.

Built to handle its bulk. Despite being impossibly heavy, Dreadnoughtus had incredibly thick leg bones and a strong skeleton designed to support its enormous weight without breaking apart. Its massive tail may have helped it balance and move through ancient forests.