What Was the World's Biggest Dinosaur?

The biggest of the big may have weighed as much as 15 African elephants.

Which dinosaur was the biggest and heaviest? T-Rex, triceratops, the mighty brontosaurus? Actually, these famous dinos aren’t even in the same ballpark as the top heavyweight contenders, which may have weighed as much as 15 African elephants. Find out which dinosaurs are in the running for the top spot and why it’s so difficult to determine who truly was the biggest of the big.

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CREDITS

Written, narrated and animated by Eric R. Olson
Design and illustration by Victoria Malabrigo

Skeletal reference drawings:
Apatosaurus by Scott Hartman
Argentinosaurus & Alamosaurus by Zach Armstrong
Dreadnoughtus by Ken Lacovara

Special thanks to Matt Wedel, Kristina Curry Rogers, Diego Pol

Music:

Meadow ambience by eric5335
Cartoony clangs by spade2
T-Rex roar by cgeffex
Ratchet by soundbytez
Fast simple chop by davedes
Gulp male by brookmorgan
Xylophone for cartoon by sergeeeo
Frog block by jagdamba
Spacey power up by gameaudio
Pop or bloop by scratchnsniff
Pringle ascending by iykqic0
Watch beep by clippysounds
Scribble by waldram
Footsteps on wood floor by ambiosis
Crunchy bite by inspectorj
Angry boo by jayfrosting
Rocks by adamgryu

Produced by WNET Interactive Engagement for NATURE on PBS
Copyright 2016 WNET New York Public Media

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REFERENCES

Novas et al. Giant titanosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the
Late Cretaceous of Patagonia

Fowler and Sullivan. The first giant titanosaurian sauropod from
the Upper Cretaceous of North America. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica
56 (4): 685–690.

GERARDO V. MAZZETTA et al. Giants and Bizarres: Body Size of Some Southern

A giant, skeletally immature invididual of Apatosaurus from the Morrison Formation of Oklahoma

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More videos:

[Diaramamond]

Great to see what specific bones the animals are actually known from!

[QuickStrikes]

That human guy for scale seems way too big IMO.

[danielmalinen]

I’ve noticed that in Europe, the dino fan community is focused on the height at the withers and length, while in America, the weight of the dinosaurs. Now communities are fighting over whether the largest dinosaur is long and tall but lighter or short and low but heavier.

[ASkywalker]

Patagotitan Mayorum is the dino presented at the end...
Another giants (needs more study by paleontologist):
Brontopodus (Some foot prints found in Australia)
Giant of Río Negro (Some fossils found in Argentina)
Amphicoelias Fragillimus
Bruhathkayosaurus

[jeffmanalang]

90% of the comments are amphicoelias is bigger.

[piggyoinkoink]

Whatever the biggest dinosaur may have been, we could be certain of one thing: it was thin at one end, much, MUCH thicker in the middle, and then thin again at the far end

[Androtheos]

wouldn't it be funny if someday it is found that all of these giants were not even adults.

[godzilsaurusanimator]

Puertasaurus: The animal's olotype, MPM 10002, consists of a cervical vertebrae, a spine and two caudal vertebrae, the largest of which is the back dorsal vertebra, which measures 1.06 meters (3.48ft) in height and 1.68 meters (5.51 ft) wide. This makes this vertebra the largest ever discovered in a sauropode; two-thirds of its width consists of huge diapophysis (lateral bone processes supporting the vertebrae), which are strongly fused with the vertebrae itself, forming a large spider-shaped section. In most sauropods, such as the Argentinosaurus, the vertebrae are not so large, lacking buttresses and have a simple bar shape. The enormous size of the diaphophoses indicate that the chest of the animal was incredibly wide, and the animal would have a 5 to 8 meter abdomen, which would make the Puertasaurus not only one of the largest dinosaurs ever lived but even the largest and probably one of the heaviest. Even the neck of the animal was rather unusual; according to the single cervical vertebrae note, the Puertasaurus had a long and thick neck, with large cervical ribs and short neural spines (unlike the Futalognkosaurus ridge, whose neck was long and provided with high neural thistles ). This gave the animal's neck an unbelievable vertical flexibility, so that some paleontologists believe that Puertasaurus held its vertical neck to the ground, rather than parallel to it like the other titanosaurids [1]; this would have allowed a greater reign of action to the animal's head that could easily reach food without having to move the body. This unusual anatomy of the body and neck [2] was not observed in any other known dinosaur.
Dimensions [edit | edit wikitesto]
Fernando Novas, one of the paleontologists who described Puertasaurus, estimated that the live animal should reach between 35 and 40 meters (115 to 131 ft) in length, a height of about 7 meters behind (with the head that could be lifted up to 16 meters from the ground if the neck was kept upright to the ground) [1] for an estimated weight of 80 to 100 tonnes. [3] If these estimates were correct it would make the Puertasaurus one of the largest and most imposing animals that have ever walked on the ground, rivaling only with titanosaurs Argentinosaurus and Dreadnoughtus. Recent estimates total a total length of about 30 meters, however sizeable. [4]
Classification [edit | edit wikitesto]

amphicoelias: Amphicoelias altus, the species described by Edward Drinker Cope in 1878, is based on an incomplete skeleton (two vertebrae, a pubis and a femur). Other material was attributed to this species in 1921, and included a scapula, a coracoid, an upright and a tooth. Henry Fairfield Osborn and C. C. Mook, who studied the specimen, found remarkable similarities between Amphicoelias and Diplodocus, although the first possessed an unusually slim femur and the front paws were proportionally longer than those of Diplodocus. The size of the two animals had to be very similar (about 28 meters in length to Amphicoelias altus, about 27 per Diplodocus).
The other species, Amphicoelias fragillimus, is known only for a vertebrae, which is incomplete. This vertebrae is 2.6 meters high and dates back to the lower Jurassic Upper Cretaceous. The estimates of the size of this dinosaur are impressive: 56 to 62 meters in length and 125 to 170 tonnes in weight, the tallest being over 60 meters in length and 200 tons in weight. Compared to the enormous size, Amphicoelias fragillimus had to be relatively "light", belonging to a family of long but light sauropods, the diplodocids. In fact, the heaviest dinosaur title would be for the Bruhathkayosaurus matleyi, which weighed about 175-220 tons. However, other estimates have diminished (albeit slightly) the overall length: the result is an Amphicoelias 50 meters long, while the weight would be 120-150 tons. Some scholars believe that Amphicoelias fragillimus is even smaller, that is 45 feet in length and 100-150 tons in weight. However, as the only fossil remains have been lost, the only scientific evidence for these estimates survived in the documents of the time, and more recent analyzes of these, in the light of new knowledge in the field, suggested that the enormous dimensions assumed for this animals were a biologically unlikely overestimative [2].

Barosaurus: his sauropod dinosaur, exceptionally long tail and neck, was almost identical to the famous diplodoco, and if it was not for the amazing size of the Barosaurus neck, the two animals could be considered as belonging to only one genus. The higher vertebrae and the tail slightly shorter than Diplodocus are two other characteristics that distinguish the two animals. Probably, more than four-fifths of the entire dinosaur had neck and tail, on a total length of 27 meters and weighed 20-30 tons.
The New York Museum of Natural History shows the skeleton of a baroque-like mom who stands on its hind legs at an incredible height to protect her little by an Allosaurus. The head of the animal would reach the fifth floor of a palace.


At one time it was thought that the long side of the barosaur would be lifted like that of a giraffe. To pump blood to the brain, though, the heart alone would have to weigh over half a ton. But bigger is a heart, less beats produce, and so the blood of the barosurus would go back to the heart before it reached the brain. Because of these difficulties, a theory was developed that Barosaurus had eight "hearts": two in the chest, and three pairs along the immense neck. Another theory presented the idea that this dinosaur had locking systems in the arteries that prevented the blood from going back. These theories dropped when some models on the computer of graduate labs showed that these dinosaurs were likely to hold their holes more or less horizontally, effectively eliminating the problem of pumping blood to the brain. The number of cervical vertebrae of Barosaurus was the same as in Diplodocus (15), but some of these vertebrae were even more than a meter in length. The cavities in their structure, however, made them rather light and the neck was less heavy than it could seem
Barosaurus was one of the many dinosaurs discovered in North America during the so-called "Bones War" between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh, which took place in the late 1800's. The description of the Barosaurus lentus species was made by Marsh in 1890. Only in 1922, however, three complete skeletons of this animal were discovered in Carnegie Quarry, Utah, by a team headed by Earl Douglass. Subsequently, other remains of this gigantic dinosaur were unearthed in South Dakota. All the material, of course, comes from the famous Morrison Training, which has brought to light other famous dinosaurs such as Brontosaurus (now Apatosaurus), Diplodocus, Allosaurus, Stegosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Camarasaurus, Camptosaurus and Brachiosaurus. Compared to the most famous sauropods, however, the barosaurus is considered rather rare; in fact, a further study of the diplodocide material from training has shown that Barosaurus was a fairly common animal.

Apatosaurus: Apatosaurus (whose name means "deceitful lizard" [1] [2]) is an extinct genre of sauropod apatosaurus dinosaur lived in the Upper Jurassic, about 152-151 million years ago (Titonian) in what is now the Morrison Formation, in the states of Oklahoma and Utah, United States. The scholar Othniel Charles Marsh described and named the first known species, A. ajax in 1877, while the second species, A. louisae, was discovered and named by William H. Holland in 1916. An adult Apatosaurus could reach an average length of 21 -22.8 meters (69-75 feet), and an average weight of 16.4-22.4 tonnes (16.1-22.0 tons long, 18.1-24.7 tons short). Some samples indicate a maximum length of 11-30% higher than average and a mass of 32.7-72.6 tonnes (32.2-71.5 tons long, 36.0-80.0 tons short).
The Apatosaurus cervical vertebrae are less elongated and more compact than the Diplodocus, which, like Apatosaurus, belonged to the family of diplodocids, and the leg bones were much more tarnished, though longer, implying that the Apatosaurus was an animal much more robust. The tail remained raised mid-air, providing a remarkable counterweight for the long neck. The Apatosaurus possessed a single large claw located on both front paws, and three on each back limb. The Patataurus skull, long considered similar to Camarasaurus, was actually much more like the Diplodocus. Probably, the Apatosaurus was a generalist burner who could eat whatever vegetation could reach thanks to the long neck. To lighten your weight and refresh the body from the inside, the Apataurus vertebrae were hollow and filled with aerosol bags connected to the animal's respiratory system, making the whole animal relatively lighter. Like in most diplodocids, the tail of the animal was probably used as a whip against predators and / or to create strong noises to communicate.
Until 1909, the Skull of the Apocalypse was often confused with that of Camarasaurus and Brachiosaurus. However, after 1909, when the olotype of the species A. louisae was found, a complete skull was also found a few meters away from the front of the neck. However, Henry Fairfield Osborn disagreed with this association, and continued to mount Apatosaurus skeletons with Camarasaurus's skull. Thus, until 1970, Apatosaurus skeletons were fitted with speculative skull skulls until McIntosh proved that the most robust skulls assigned to Diplodocus were most likely belonged to Apatosaurus.
The Apatosaurus is a kind of family of early primitive diplodocids, with only Amphicoelias, and possibly a new unnamed genre, which could be even more primitive. While the subfamily of apatosaurinae was named in 1929, the group was not validly used until a large study in 2015. Only Brontosaurus, together with Apatosaurus, officially forms part of this subfamily, while other genres usually assigned are sometimes referred to as synonyms or reclassifi

[michaeldeak]

Could the new sauropod just be a larger individual of Argentinosaurus?

[spoopy_YT]

The comments are completely wrong. Amphiceolias Isn't the largest, it actually got renamed and also the skeleton. So now it's called Maraapunisaurus and it's much smaller. Stop commenting amphiceolias is bigger

[dinoguy]

By the way sense Amphicoelias was based on a Diplodocus it could be way heavier if it is real. Diplodocus is quite skinny witch means it could maybe be as much as 250 tons if it is real. btw I believe in Amphicoelias because the bones could be lost because that happened to other dinos such as Spinosaurus and that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.

[rasheed]

Nice choice of graphics for simplified visuals.

[arclight]

Another Barosaurus shoulder bone was found, it was much larger than average size and was larger than even Argentinasaurus.

[daliborjovanovic]

Most people forget that nature usually doesn`t care about having a single species be a record holder in any category, so a single "largest dinosaur" may not have existed instead there may have been 2, 3 or even a dozen colossal sauropod species that were the same size and shared the title.

Also it`s unlikely according to most modern estimates that any sauropod weighed more than 75 tons.

[williamsapong]

Well, we have narrowed it down to these sauropods in two categories:


Height + weight

Dreadnoughtus
Futalongkosaurus
Argentinosaurus
Sauroposeidon
Puertasaurus
Patagotitan
Notocolossus
Alamosaurus

Length
Maraapunisaurus
Barosaurus
Supersaurus
Mamenchisaurus (M. sinocanadorum)
Diplodocus (D. hallorum)

[pteropteryx]

Barosaurus was the biggest apparenty. Recent discoveries of its neck say that it was between 18 and 20 metres long. If that is the case, it should've been 50 metres long at least

[wansome]

What I think
1. Dreadnoughtus

2. Argentinasaurus

3. Paraltitan (I think that's how it's spelt)

4. Amphiocielias

And 5. Puertasaurus

Non of them are in particular order but just some 5 that could be the biggest

[spaceflightsimdlc]

Amphicoelias is a biggest dinosaur because the weight is 213 Ton and the height is 30 meters and the lenght is 68 meters

[dimitristsekeris]

When you are reffering to a giant sauropod recently discovered in Argentina, I assume you are referring to Dreadnoughtus Schrani. But Dreadnoughtus wasn't as big as Argentinosaurus at all.

[steveheimlerfanpage]

I heard (according to an online course by the University of Alberta) that the longest was Diplodocus, the tallest was Argentinosaurus, and the heaviest was Giraffatitan (maybe the latter two were switched).
All of this could've totally changed in the years since it was updated, tho. Palentology is bananas.