(LINKS TO PAST FOSSIL FRIDAYS)

Community College (LRCCD)

Geology & Earth Science Instructor: Arthur Reed, P.G.

 

 

Happy Fossil Friday!

Friday February 5, 2021

 

 

Dinosaur Unearthed in Argentina Could Be Largest Land Animal Ever

The skeleton is still far from complete but paleontologists say what they’ve found suggests the dinosaur may be more than 120 feet long

 

A paleontologist excavating a 98 million-year-old fossil which may belong to the largest land animal ever. Researchers first started unearthing the creatures remains in 2012 at the Candeleros Formation in the Neuquen River Valley, Argentina. (CTyS-UNLaM Science Outreach Agency)

By Alex Fox

SMITHSONIANMAG.COM
JANUARY 22, 2021

 

The fossilized bones of what may have been the largest animal ever to walk the Earth are slowly emerging from the ground in Argentina, reports Amy Woodyatt for CNN.

Beginning in 2012, paleontologists set about excavating a hulking set of 24 vertebrae as well as elements of the pelvis and pectoral girdle from the Candeleros Formation in Argentina’s Neuquén Province. At first, it wasn’t clear to researchers what they’d found, only that it was enormous. Now, in a new paper published this month in the journal Cretaceous Research, paleontologists say the remains suggest a type of long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur called a titanosaur, potentially the largest ever unearthed.

They can’t yet speculate as to whether the gigantic bones belong to a known species or something new entirely, but, per CNN, the team says that the specimen could be even bigger than a 122-foot, nearly 70-ton titanosaur called Patagontitan.

 

 

 

 

 

https://youtu.be/tIYD8G_JyL4

After you open this video click on the ‘setting’ icon to choose ‘Subtitles’ then choose ‘Auto-translate’ and then your language.  The translation is far from perfect but it helps.

 

 

 

 

 

Approximate location in Argentina where this fossil was found

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diagram

Description automatically generated

 

 

NOTE: Corrections are always appreciated!

 

 

 

Attribution:  This page adapted from GNS Science



 

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