London, May 18 (IANS): Forget T-rex, this gigantic dinosaur that once roamed the earth was as heavy as 14 African elephants!
Yes, Scientists have unearthed fossilised bones of a 70-tonne species of a dinosaur - making it seven tonnes heavier than the previous record holder Argentinosaurus.
The bones of this 130-feel long species belonging to titanosaur family were found in Patagonian city in Argentina.
According to paleontologists Jose Luis Carballido and Ruben Cuneo from the renowned Egidio Feruglio Museum, the fossils are that of a sauropod and preliminary tests dates the fossils at some 90 million years old.
They unearthed the partial skeletons of seven individuals - about 150 bones in total - all in “remarkable condition”, media reports said.
According to the measurements of its gigantic thigh bones, the herbivore would have been 130-feet long and 65-feet tall.
“It will be named describing its magnificence and in honour to both the region and the farm owners who alerted us about the discovery,” the researchers were quoted as saying.
Dinosaurs first appeared about 228 million years ago on earth during the Triassic period.
They were at their peak during the Jurassic Period and disappeared at the end of the Cretaceous Period about 65 million years ago.
More than 1,000 species of dinosaurs have been identified but many are known from only fragmentary fossil remains, reports added.