Although the discovery of the world's largest land animal is exciting, researchers say they are even more excited about the discovery of a large number of fossils, which belong to at least six kinds of giant animals. They say that by comparing these newly discovered bones with those of other titanosaurs, researchers can establish a complete family tree of titanosaurs. [See the picture of Titan, the largest dinosaur known on earth]
This genealogy shows that some giant titanosaurs in Patagonia-including Argentinean dragon, Pu 'er dragon, monitor lizard and newly discovered dinosaur-belong to the same evolutionary group. JoséLuis Carballio, the research director of the Argentine National Research Council (CONICET) and working in the Paleontology Museum in Terreiro, said that this branch is called "a branch".
This branch shows that "in the history of sauropods, extremely giant creatures evolved once", not many times, but a city in chubut province.
The researchers wrote in the research report that the genealogy shows that the branch of the Mayoroum monitor lizard is the sister branch of Rincosauria, which includes some of the smallest titanosaurs ever recorded. Some "small" Titan dragons, including the Green Dragon and the Salt Dragon, weighed about 6 tons (5.4 metric tons). (Carballido J.L et al./Journal of the Royal Society B) The modern story of the discovery of Titan in the middle Cretaceous began on 20 12. Aurelio Hernandez, a worker in La Flecha ranch in Patagonia, Argentina, found some fossils while managing sheep in the pasture. Hernandez showed this place to Oscar Mayo, one of the owners of the ranch, and he immediately realized that these specimens were probably dinosaur remains.
Mayo invited paleontologists from the museum to visit the site. They spent a total of 65,438+08 months excavating these bones, including an 8-foot-high (2.4-meter) femur. Kavaldo told the reporter of Life Science that an analysis showed that there were at least six remains of different individuals in the site.
This discovery is of great significance. The researchers asked the American Museum of Natural History in new york City to show a 20 16-year-old dinosaur skeleton model before the dinosaur was even named. 122 feet (37 meters) long, the reconstructed dinosaur was too big to accommodate a room, so the museum curator positioned its long neck and small head to poke into the corridor of the museum to welcome guests.
Because the researchers had time to analyze Titan's bones, they officially named it Patago Titan Mayonnaise. The name of this genus refers to Patagonia, where dinosaurs were discovered, and "Titan" refers to the Greek gods, famous for their strength and size. The researchers said in the study that the name of this species is to commemorate the hospitality of the Mayo family in the excavation process.
Is a super-large, although all six Mayo families are huge, but the analysis of five femurs and 1 humerus (forelimbs between shoulders and elbows) shows that these individuals "have not stopped growing", Cabaldo said, and the researchers wrote in the research report:
Nevertheless, they are quite tall. If the neck is straight, they may reach nearly 50 feet (15 meters) high. [Photo: Giant Titan invades new york Museum]
The dinosaur model is bigger than the exhibition area, so visitors are welcome to enter the museum hall at the elevator entrance. Considering that these dinosaurs are not fully mature, "this means that there are still bigger dinosaurs to be discovered," said Kristina Curry Rog, a paleontologist at McLeister College in St. Paul, Minnesota, who was not involved in the study.
It should be noted that mayonnaise is not the heaviest animal in the world. Blue whales can weigh up to 200 tons (180 metric tons).
The six people in the vanishing lake were found from three different levels or time periods. Cavalldo said that maybe so many people died there because there was a lake in the area, which prompted Titan to return again and again and drink the water from it. Cabaldo said that this is the first time to record this concept called "place fidelity" for large animals. Kabado said:
Stephen Polobart, a paleontologist at swinburne Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, said that it may be that the lake dried up during the drought, when the six Titan dragons died of thirst, and he was not involved in the study. Polopat told Life Science magazine in an email:
"The smell of their rotting corpses will attract carnivorous theropods, such as the tyrant Notan, who will lose their teeth when eating." . He added that when theropod dinosaurs wolfed down, some mayonnaise dinosaur bones might be "pushed deep into the mud" and eventually become fossils. [Dinosaur Detective: Find out what you really know]
"It will be interesting to see if there are teeth marks on the bones," said Polopat.
Polopat said that the "thigh-thick" yolk protein fossils are "very impressive" because they are well-preserved and huge. For example, "the femur they found is equal to or larger than all other femurs in the fossil record," he said.
"There is no doubt that it is pushing the upper limit of its body size to see what adaptability it has developed to cope with such great pressure. [Such great pressure]" With getting enough food and finding a spouse, "Polopat said,
It is a herbivore and the largest dinosaur ever recorded. (G. Liya) Polopat pointed out that in southern South America, the largest Titan lived in the middle Cretaceous, and the time span was quite narrow between1.1.300 million years ago and 83 million years ago.
Polopat said that perhaps the long necks and tails of these titanosaurs helped them lose excess heat, because the temperature was higher than usual during this period.
The study will be published online on Wednesday (August 9) in the Journal of the Royal Society B.
This is an original article about life science.