Newly Discovered Giant Dino Named for Battleship
September 5, 2014
Paleontologists have unearthed fossils in the Patagonian Desert in Argentina that represent the most complete giant dinosaur ever discovered, the journal Scientific Reports announced today. According to Kenneth Lacovara of Drexel University in Philadelphia, his team has uncovered 70 percent of the key bones needed to fully describe the creature, one of a group of dinosaurs known as sauropods. Sauropods were immense, long-necked, plant-eating dinos that were the most massive beasts ever to roam the surface of Earth. The scientists estimate that the newly found sauropod measured 85 feet (26 meters) in length and weighed approximately 60 tons (54 metric tons).
Seismosaurus, the huge sauropod depicted in this illustration, was one of the largest dinosaurs that ever lived. Scientists believe it measured about 150 feet (45 meters) in length. The giant fossil Dreadnoughtus recently found in Argentina may not have been as large as Seismosaurus. But, the recently found skeleton of Dreadnoughtus is the most complete ever discovered for the sauropods, and it will allow scientists to learn much about how these giant dinosaurs moved and lived. ( World Book illustrations by Tim Hayward, Bernard Thornton Artists)
Lacovara and his team named the 77-million-year-old fossil Dreadnoughtus schrani after the massive battleships introduced at the turn of the last century. “Dreadnoughtus was huge, and in its environment there would have been nothing that could have preyed on it; it was essentially impervious to attack,” explained Lacovara. “And that evoked in my mind those turn-of-the-last-century battleships—the first really big steel battleships—that were also impervious to attack from the other ships that existed at that time. So, what better name than ‘dread nought’—’fears nothing’.”
The Dreadnought battleship was introduced by the British Navy in 1906. The first modern battleship, the Dreadnought was more powerfully armed and more heavily armored than any earlier warship. On the seas, it “feared nothing.” (World Book illustrations by George Suyeoka)
Additional World Book article:
- Fascinating Facts About Fossil Feces (a special report)
