Do you know what the largest dinosaur in the world is? The biggest dinosaur.

Surely you have already asked yourself this question? Was there an animal larger than the modern blue whale? In this article we will answer, and at the same time show what the podium of the largest creatures looks like. We conduct thorough monitoring and analysis of all known to science species. We emphasize that we focus only on the remains of dinosaurs, which allow us to make at least an approximate reconstruction of the skeleton.

So, which one is the best? big dinosaur in the world? Nineteen current leaders:

The Latin name of the species is indicated in brackets. To read a description of champions whose profiles are already in the database, click on the title.

More recently, in 2017, the Argentine titanosaur Patagotitan was described, surpassing even the supersaurus, our previous record holder.

A rough comparison of the long dinosaur, a Boeing aircraft, a person and African elephant(illustration from USA Today website).

Before it, for a really long time (after regular re-estimations of Diplodocus and Futalognokosaurus), the supersaurus was in the lead with 34 meters. For comparison, the length of the largest modern animal, the blue whale, according to unofficial estimates is only 33.6 m (the maximum official estimate is 29.9 m). But it is interesting to compare the animals visually, so in the next image we have placed them side by side: on top is the skeleton of a supersaurus from the Makuhari Masse Exhibition Center (Chiba, Japan), and below is the skeleton of a blue whale from the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History (California, USA). Click to enlarge.

At the same time, we emphasize that, unlike dinosaurs, the whale is a marine animal.

Another comparison, this time graphic: a blue whale against the background of a diplodocus.

Next comes the Argentinosaurus, which “visibly contrasts” not only next to humans, but also against the background of the by no means small giganotosaurs.

This revealing scene is brought to life by Indian artist SameerPrehistorica.

The painting was created by the famous American artist William Stout in 1990.

It must be very interesting, what did the largest dinosaurs eat? All of them are classic sauropods - herbivorous dinosaurs that walked on four legs. Angiosperms, gymnosperms, ferns and other plants were the main diet. Thanks to their phenomenal size and long neck, they were able to reach the top branches of trees.

Potential applicants

This subsection will refer to specimens that have not yet received a scientific description. It is quite possible that one of them will be called the largest dinosaur in the future.

Barosaurus

In the second half of 2016, paleontologists Michael Taylor and Matthew Wedel presented a report on the potential size of the Late Jurassic sauropod Barosaurus. In their opinion, the giant cervical vertebra BYU 9024, previously attributed to Supersaurus, and before it Ultrasaurus, actually belongs to Barosaurus. The length of the neck of AMNH 6341, a well-studied specimen of the latter, is 8.5 m. According to the authors, based on these data, the length of the neck of BYU 9024 could reach a record for sauropods of 17 meters. Consequently, the total length of the reptile is much greater than all known barosaurs.

The fossil is truly fantastic, but is it really the largest dinosaur on the planet? It is too early to draw final conclusions. Firstly, it is difficult to calculate body length from one cervical vertebra. Secondly, it could not have belonged to the Barosaurus, but to some other giant. It has already changed ownership twice. There are no guarantees that this will not happen again.

The longest animal vertebra in the entire history of the Earth. In the photo, Mike Taylor shows a sample BYU 9024 and its plastic model.

Mamenchisaurus

In 2010, the famous American paleontologist Gregory Paul mentioned in his book a sauropod from China, Mamenchisaurus, which, according to his calculations, could reach 35 meters in length. The lizard belongs to the species . The reconstruction of the lizard has already been demonstrated at the Makuhari Masse Exhibition Center (Chiba, Japan). Below is a photo of her.

Amphicelia

Due to the constant mention of this sauropod in the comments to the article, let’s dot all the i’s. View Amphicoelias fragillimus, to which over and above is constantly attributed gigantic size is actually based on a fragment of a single vertebra discovered in 1877 and described by Edward Cope in 1878. There have been no analogues since that moment.

Not only is it impossible to estimate the length even approximately from a single vertebra, there is also a serious issue here: this vertebra has not been preserved at all, only its sketch is known (and only one side of the object is depicted, which is generally unacceptable in the description). The circumstances of the disappearance are very mysterious and do not inspire any confidence.

It follows that the species is questionable, and any assessments are unfounded. In any case, until new discoveries.

Bruhatkayosaurus

Another type, namely Bruhathkayosaurus matleyi, for similar reasons is dubious. This also happens mysterious disappearance remains. Moreover, the only description, supplemented by illegible photographs, is superficial.

In our opinion, you should not dwell on dubious species. After all, there are new excavations ahead, which will bring new records. We periodically update the ratings and increase the number of places, so check back.

Author of the article: ArgusEye (Last update: 25.10.2017)

Literature

Featured scientific works( - journals with limited access):

Calvo, J. O.; Juárez Valieri, R.D.; Porfiri, J.D. (2008). Re-sizing giants: estimation of body length of Futalognkosaurus dukei and implications for giant titanosaurian sauropods. 3° Congreso Latinoamericano de Paleontología de Vertebrados. Neuquén, Argentina.
José L. Carballido; Diego Pol; Alejandro Otero; Ignacio A. Cerda; Leonardo Salgado; Alberto C. Garrido; Jahandar Ramezani; Néstor R. Cúneo; Javier M. Krause (2017).

Determining which of the largest dinosaurs lived on our planet is a rather difficult matter. Of course, many large skeletons have been discovered, and by comparing them one can judge whether the dinosaur was large. However, a completely preserved skeleton is rare. Therefore, the size of the largest dinosaur can only be judged by some remains of its skeleton. This article will present descriptions of the largest dinosaurs that ever lived on Earth.

Argentinosaurus

The largest dinosaur on Earth, which lived approximately 90 million years ago, is called Argentinosaurus. Its name, as you might guess, comes from the name of the country in which it was discovered. According to scientists, it weighed more than 80 tons and its length was 28 meters. This lizard may have been the largest land animal that ever lived on Earth.

Discovery of remains and their description

In addition, the largest amount of paleontological material has been collected on this dinosaur. The remains of a giant lizard were discovered in 1980 by famous paleontologists Jose Bonaparte and Rodolfo Coria, who were employees of the History Museum in Buenos Aires. According to them, Argentinosaurus belongs to a series of sauropods that lived on the South American continent during the Cretaceous period. Scientists also suggested that this is the largest dinosaur ever discovered.

Scientists compared the bones of the discovered creature with the bones of a sauropod and calculated that the excavated lizard had hind limbs about 5 meters long and a length from hip to shoulder of 8 meters. And if we add to the results obtained the length of the tail and neck, which correspond to the proportions of already discovered sauropods, then the total length is about 28 meters. If we take length as the main indicator, then Argentinosaurus is not the largest dinosaur on Earth. But the heaviest, the weight of adult individuals could reach 100 tons.

Spinosaurus

Judging by the remains, Spinosaurus was one of the most violent predators that lived in the Cretaceous period. The length of his huge body from the tip of his tail to the tip of his nose was about 16 meters (more than a modern bus). There were huge spikes on its back, the longest of which reached 2 meters. These spikes served the dinosaur as a kind of sail. They were located in this way: in the center was the longest one, and shorter ones radiated from it along the head and tail. Each subsequent spike was shorter than the previous one.

Description of the body

The huge body of the dinosaur was supported by two strong column-like legs, which ended in sharp claws. The lizard needed these claws in order to hold its prey during an attack. The dinosaur's upper limbs were very small, but quite strong. The head structure of Spinosaurus was very similar to other carnivorous dinosaurs. The mouth contained long and razor-sharp teeth that could pierce even a strong shell. The tail was large and wide. Some scientists suggest that he could use his tail to knock his prey down. When directly obtaining food, only the largest dinosaurs in the world could do this.

When hunting, Spinosaurus relied not only on its enormous size, but also on the strength of its jaws and claws. The largest predatory dinosaurs hunted alone, waiting for their prey. The diet of this predator included even those dinosaurs that were taller and heavier than it. For example, sauropods. The Spinosaurus only had to sink its teeth into the throat, and this would lead to instant death for the victim.

Spinosaurus mode of existence

On hot days, Spinosaurus turned its huge back to the sun. In this position, the dorsal “sail” was facing the sunlight, so it absorbed it. Spinosaurus, like all reptiles, was a cold-blooded animal and needed warmth for blood circulation. The largest dinosaurs needed not only warmth, but also cooling of their bodies. This lizard was no exception and always tried to stick to rivers and lakes to avoid heavy climatic conditions Cretaceous period. Some scientists believe that the huge “sail” on the back of the lizard not only performed the function of regulating blood supply, but was also a means of attracting individuals of the opposite sex.

Liopleurodon

Liopleurodon - if not the largest dinosaur on land, then in the depths of the sea it had no equal. This species was found and described in 1873 by paleontologist G. Savage. The scientist found only one dinosaur tooth in the Late Jurassic layers of the Boulogne region in Northern France. Later, already in late XIX century, a complete skeleton was discovered in Peterborough, UK. At that time, Liopleurodon was classified as a plesiosaur, but it had fewer teeth and a smaller size.

Description of the water lizard

The total length of Liopleurodon reached 27 meters with the length of the skull alone being 5 meters. This creature lived in the waters northern Europe and South America. The remains of the dinosaur were also discovered in Russia (Volga region). The found skull of Liopleurodon belonged to the late Jurassic period. In terms of skull parameters, the Russian dinosaur was in no way inferior to European finds. The skeleton of Liopleurodon is in the Moscow Paleontological Museum, anyone can see it to find out what the largest dinosaurs were.

Liopleurodons were typical pliosaurs. A large head, which occupied ¼ of the body, four huge flippers (about 4 m long) and a small but powerful tail. All pliosaurs had these characteristics. Liopleurodon was distinguished from them only by huge sharp teeth about 35 centimeters long (up to 45 cm were also found). At the tips of his jaw, his teeth formed a kind of tuft.

The lizard's nostrils, which were located outside, did not serve for breathing. When the dinosaur swam, water first entered the internal sinuses and then came out through the external sinuses. This entire flow passed through a special organ, so the dinosaur “sniffed” the water. And the creature was forced to breathe through its mouth, floating to the surface. Liopleurodon's lung capacity allowed it to dive very deeply and hold its breath for a long time. He also had remarkable means of defense; under his skin he had thick layers of bone. Like all pliosaur dinosaurs, Liopleurodon was viviparous. You can see a photo of the largest dinosaur that ever lived in the sea in any scientific encyclopedia on this topic.

The aquatic lizard fed mainly on large sea fish, ammonites, sometimes attacked representatives of their genus of marine reptiles. Liopleurodons, the largest dinosaurs of the sea, were the dominant predators of the seas and oceans of the Jurassic period.

Probably every person on earth knows that some dinosaurs were simply huge! The most “giant giants” were, of course, the saurapods. They had a huge neck, a huge tail that served as a counterweight, and a small (relative to the whole body) head.

Amphicoelias fragillimus - the largest dinosaur that ever existed

The largest dinosaurs are sauropods:

Argentynozaur (Argentinosaurus) (30-33m, 70-80 tons)
Zauroposejdon (Sauroposeidon) (34 m, 50 t)
Seismosaurus (Seismosaurus) (33 m, 27 t)
Superzaur (Supersaurus) (33-34 m, 35-40 thousand tons)

All of these dinosaurs have names that are fairly easy to remember.

Excavations that have been going on for more than a hundred years have made it possible to establish a more accurate shape and body structure of these ancient animals.

Sauropods - the largest dinosaur

The long-necked sauropod is the largest animal not only among representatives ancient world, but also those living before and after him. Only a sauropod was larger than the blue whale, which reaches a length of 34 meters and weighs 190 tons.
Some sauropods, or rather some representatives of this species, recently discovered (for example, Seismosaurus (Seismosaurus), which means “ground-shaking lizard” or Argentynozaur (Argentinosaurus)) may be significantly larger than the long-necked one (40 - 50 meters in length), but they weighed no more than 100 tons.

Argentinosaurus is one of the largest dinosaurs - 33 m in length and weighing 70-80 tons

It's all about the voids. Or rather, in the cavities of the bones of these dinosaurs. The largest skeleton with hollow bones ever discovered belonged to the dinosaur Diplodocus (from the Latin diplodocus - “two-rayed”). It is 30 meters long. And then there is Brachiosaurus (Brachiosaurus brancai) - the skeleton of this creature is on display in a museum in Berlin. It is almost 27 meters long and 13 meters high.

But most striking is the Brachiosaurus skeleton found in Tanzania. This is the most complete dinosaur sauropod skeleton in existence today.

Cavities in the bones significantly reduced weight!

The largest herbivorous dinosaurs had voids in their bones. Especially in the spine. This made it possible to significantly reduce their weight. For example: Camarasaurus, which got its name because of its hollow bones (cavity lizard). But, even in the presence of voids, the weight of this lizard was greater than that of three elephants. The shoulders of this animal were approximately 2 meters wide. But this was quite enough to support the incredibly large neck.
The shoulders of ultrazaura, who lived at the same time as kamarazur, are somewhat larger - approximately 2.7 meters. This is also a representative of sauropods, a herbivorous lizard that lived around the world about 200 million years ago

Brachiosaurus (Brachiosaurus)

The same huge representative of dinosaurs. It is also a sauropod, up to 27 meters long and 13 meters high. Weight - up to 80 tons, which is the approximate weight of 10 adult elephants.
The family dlugoszyich diplodocoids was an interesting species of sauropod - Amficelias (Amphicoelias) - "double-concave". One of its species, Amphicoelias fragillimus, can also lay claim to the title of the largest and heaviest dinosaur.

Diplodocus (skeleton) - one of the largest dinosaurs

In 1978, a fragment of the skeleton of this lizard was found, assessing which, paleontologists came to the conclusion that the weight of the owner could be 100-150 tons, and the length could be up to 60 meters. It was not possible to make more accurate calculations due to the single surviving fragments.

Bruhatkajozaur (Bruhathkayosaurus matleyi)

These dinosaurs are called “heavy-carcass lizards.” But, unfortunately, there is not a single complete skeleton of this dinosaur. Based on the scattered parts that scientists have at their disposal, it can be argued that the weight of these lizards was 70-130 tons, and their body length was 26-34 meters. Height is about 12 meters.

Puertazaur (Puertasaurus)

Puertazaur (Puertasaurus) is a huge lizard, a representative of sauropods, described as recently as 2005. His remains were discovered in 2001 in Argentina. The lizard received its name in honor of one of the researchers, Pablo Puerto.

The discovered vertebra had a gigantic size - 1.06! meters. Such bones could belong to a super-huge dinosaur. He was most likely very slow due to his size. Moreover, it was a herbivorous lizard with a chest 7 meters wide, 38 meters long and weighing 110 tons.
In addition to the types of uncertainty that dinosaurs are: amficelias and bruhatkajozaur, puertazaur would be the big one famous dinosaurs.

Alamosaur (Alamosaurus)

Sauropods of the titanosaurid group (Titanosauria). Its name comes from the Ojo Alamo, a mountain range in New Mexico, USA, where it was first found. This means "-Lizard of the Alamo."

Alamozaur is an inhabitant of the late Cretaceous period (71-65 million years ago). Its range was in North America. This was the last sauropod on our land. Initially, it was believed that Alamosaurus was somewhat smaller - up to 21 meters long and weighing no more than 35 tons. However, in 2011, the vertebrae of a lizard were discovered, whose dimensions were more impressive. Paleontologists came to the conclusion that the previously discovered remains most likely belonged to “teenagers” of Alamosaurus. In 2011, the remains of an adult dinosaur were found, whose weight could reach 100 tons and length - 37 meters.

I think many people have asked themselves this question since childhood: who is the largest dinosaur, how long is it, and how much does it weigh? In fact, this is a very controversial issue.

Patagotitan majorum is now officially considered the largest dinosaur. Its weight is estimated to be up to 77 tons. And this is not a fully grown individual yet!

However, there are scattered remains that may belong to larger animals. Bruhatkaiosaurus from India, according to the most immodest estimates, could reach 240 tons; Amphicelia from North America- could be 62 meters long and 122 tons in weight. Scientists are skeptical about these estimates, since, for example, only one vertebra is known from Amphicelia.

It is very difficult to calculate the exact length and weight of an animal without knowing its proportions. But there is another thing: we know only a few individuals from many dinosaurs. Often there are not even adults among them. What is the probability that a person randomly selected from the crowd will be the largest? Therefore, dinosaurs were most likely larger than generally believed!
Were they the largest animals ever?

In truth, only blue whale can compete with the largest dinosaurs. If we take the largest estimate of the weight of dinosaurs - 240 tons, then the blue whale, as they say, is in flight. But I repeat, this assessment is very controversial. Surely dinosaurs reached about 80 tons. Well, and taking into account the fact that the individuals found are definitely not the largest, I think we can cautiously suggest a weight of up to 100 - 120 tons. Even if it’s not a “blue whale,” it’s still a lot. This is just an awful lot for a land creature! Never before or after dinosaurs have there been such huge land animals!

Compared to their closest competitors - mammals, the size of dinosaurs is simply insanely huge. According to recent estimates, the largest land mammals were proboscis. Some of these huge "elephants" of antiquity are estimated at a maximum of about 30 tons. These are not the largest individuals found, but the calculated maximum, taking into account the fact that the largest were not found. That is, dinosaurs are 3-4 times heavier than these elephants!

But it’s very difficult to reach such sizes. Scientists are already asking the question: how could dinosaurs maintain their weight? They didn't have any special adaptations for this. Everything that exists does not go beyond the same elephants. Perhaps, writes Gregory Paul, dinosaur bones were much stronger. But this also means that when equal weight a dinosaur will be stronger than a mammal!

Now imagine how strong they are considering their size... In various films, especially on Ren TV, they often say that dinosaurs maintained their monstrous weight due to the low gravity at that time. But in fact, such hypotheses have nothing to do with real science. Although yes, the conditions then were somewhat different from today: there was much less oxygen in the atmosphere, and where large quantity carbon dioxide. Well, the climate in general was warmer, and much less contrasting.

Another problem for such giants is nutrition. To date, science does not have a convincing answer to a simple question: how could the populations of all these giants feed themselves? They needed an unrealistic amount of food! Especially considering that, judging by the structure of the bones, dinosaurs were warm-blooded, and not cold-blooded, as previously thought. Special calculations have shown that the areas of the continents are not sufficient to feed the populations of giants. So this remains one of their secrets.

Well, now I suggest you ask yourself: which dinosaur would you consider the largest? The tallest, the longest, or the heaviest? But this will most likely be different types, and no one will take all the medals alone!
The largest dinosaurs belong to the Sauropod group. Of the sauropods, the longest are diplodocids (up to 62 m in length), the tallest are brachiosaurids (up to 18 m in height), and the heaviest are titanosaurids (up to 240 tons in weight). What would impress you more - a length of 62 meters or a height of 18 meters? Or maybe it weighs 240 tons? Hard to say.

This is all subjective and depends on the situation...
In general, people like to compare everything according to objective criteria. But if we go back to childhood, then surely we can more accurately rephrase the child’s question as follows: “Which dinosaur would make the greatest impression on me?”

A film with David Attenborough was recently released, in which approximately this question is raised. As a result, the authors come to the conclusion that the “coolest” is Patagotitan. But... When they show him in comparison with Attenborough, he doesn't make an impression. Why? A small head, behind it a long thin neck, and then - long body and tail. All this has no effect.

Try an experiment. I think everyone has watched the film “Jurassic Park”. So ask the kids: who is the biggest dinosaur in the frame? Most people will probably say T. rex. Although objectively it was a brachiosaurus. And why all? The T. rex is more impressive. It is more impressive than the Patagotitan from the documentary. Because a T. rex is not a small head on a long neck. This is a huge, scary “muzzle” on a short, powerful neck, armed with large teeth protruding outward. And that's all, not to mention the fact that he is a predator. Who will impress you more - a 300 kg cow, or a 300 kg tiger? The answer is obvious.

Of course, predatory dinosaurs make more of an impression on people. And in this regard, it is logical to ask the question: which of them is the largest?

For a long time the largest predatory dinosaur considered a T. rex. But recently, competitors have appeared. A Giganotosaurus, a Carcharodontosaurus, and finally a Spinosaurus were found. All of them together are still trying to shake the throne under the T. rex. Yes, it's all to no avail.
The most notable attempt to rock the T-Rex throne for mass audiences appeared in the film “Jurassic Park 3.” The Spinosaurus kills the T. rex in this film. True, not only does the battle itself look very unrealistic, but the film was initially coldly received by the audience. And now I want to talk not about the fact that everyone understands how the thin neck of the Spinosaurus would have been simply cut off by these powerful jaws, and not even about the fact that there are a lot of “tyrannophans”. But rather about why there are so many of them.

If we compare the T. rex with absolutely any of its “competitors,” it doesn’t matter whether it’s a spinosaurus, a giganotosaurus, or a carcharodontosaurus, we will discover the following striking feature: compared to the T. rex, they’re all crap. And that's putting it mildly. The T. rex has solid volumes of head, neck, and body. He looks like a fighter. While the rest have a frontal view...

Ummm... Not really. Thin “muzzle”, thin neck. They all look like flounder flattened laterally. And another important point: The T. rex looks straight into your eyes. His eyes are positioned in such a way that they provide him with a stereoscopic effect. The rest don't have it! Well, the name itself is Tyrannosaurus rex. Tyrant, lizard, king. This is impossible to forget! What a spinosaurus! It's no surprise that the new Jurassic World reinstates the T. rex as a conquering predator! And it’s unlikely that he will be shown as a loser in “World 2.”

Already in the trailer, he reaps the laurels of the winner, killing the dangerous Carnotaurus (if you watched the 2001 cartoon “Dinosaur”, then he is there as the main villain).

I think the answer to the children's question: “which dinosaur would impress me more” is already obvious to you. But you need to add a few finishing touches to show off the T. rex in all its glory.

First of all, as already mentioned, he is stronger than you can imagine! This is obvious from the fact that he carries his carcass, weighing 10 - 20 tons, on two legs bent at the knees. The T. rex's bones, ligaments and muscles must be stronger than those of any modern animal. And even than other dinosaurs: no one else carried such a carcass on two legs.

Secondly, they are terrible fighters, and during fights with each other, they tore their opponents’ ribs, necks and jaws, and bit off their tails. In addition, they were incredibly tenacious creatures. They were literally terminators in this regard. As an illustration of this thesis, I advise you to watch the film “Tyrannosaurus: Champion of Survival.” That is, in addition to his enormous size and strength, he also has the incredibly reckless aggression of the Hulk and the vitality of Wolverine.

And finally, a quote from the famous Jack Horner: “... I think all T. rexes known today continued to grow.”
Even bigger, fiercer and more powerful! Which dinosaur would impress you the most? Definitely a Tyrannosaurus rex!

Amazing and mysterious animals -. Despite the fact that people were unable to discover their existence, the remains of dinosaurs were forever preserved in the geological deposits of the Earth, on the pages of scientific and fiction, in our imagination.

The period separating humans and dinosaurs is 230 million years.

Of course, knowledge about these incredible creatures are available thanks to the painstaking work of scientists around the world, collecting information bit by bit.

Many discoveries and discoveries allowed us to restore appearance animals, design their behavior, determine the type of food and relationships with relatives.

In today's article, we invite you to get acquainted with the largest representatives of dinosaurs and evaluate their size and appearance.

Unusual name came to us from the Nahuatl language, and translated means “feathered serpent” - the deity of the Aztecs and other tribes of Central America.

Today, Quetzalcoatlus is the only large representative of the pterosaur order.

Flying lizards lived at the end of the Cretaceous period - 69-65 million years ago.

The weight of quetzalcoatlus reached 250 kg, body length - 7 m. The wingspan of the feathered dinosaur was 12 meters.

They presumably ate carrion, and rarely small animals. They had a long beak and sharp teeth, which allowed them to absorb rough food without difficulty.

Quetzalcoatli were distributed in the United States, Texas.

The name of this species of ancient lizard comes from two Greek words “flesh” and “crocodile”. However, Sarcosuchus does not belong to the order of crocodilians.

It is considered the largest crocodile-like reptile that lived in the Cretaceous period.

The body length of Sarcosuchus could reach 15 meters, and the weight ranged from 8 to 14 tons. The dimensions of the skull were also gigantic - 1.6 m.

The huge Sarcosuchus had a powerful jaw, the strength of which was 15-20 tons.

These dinosaurs ate aquatic animals, fish and other lizards.

Scientists have determined that they lived in the territory modern Africa.

Spinosaurus literally means “spined lizard.” Spinosaurus received this name due to its body structure and skin.

They lived in the Cretaceous period - 112-93.5 million years ago - in the territory of modern North Africa.

Spinosaurs mastered both aquatic and terrestrial environment a habitat. Among their carnivorous relatives, they had the largest skull. Body weight could be from 9 to 12 tons, length - 15-18 meters.

Spinosaurus is easy to recognize: the sail-shaped vertebral processes especially stand out in its appearance. They also had well-developed forelimbs, which helped them hold the prey.

Scientists believe that the favorite delicacy of spinosaurs was stingrays.

The remains were first found in Egypt in 1915. It was they who allowed the German paleontologist E. Stromer to compile detailed description.

Shantungosaurus is a hadrosaurus found in Shandong Province, China, during the Late Cretaceous period.

It is considered the largest representative of ornithischian dinosaurs.

The herbivorous Shantungosaurus could reach 15-17 meters in length and 15-20 tons in weight.

The dinosaur's beak was toothless, but the jaws themselves had about 1,500 tiny teeth designed for grinding food.

Near the nostrils there was a hole covered with a membrane. By inflating it, Shantungosaurus could make sounds.

The unusual name, derived from its long neck and tail, translates to “double beam.”

A giant representative of lizard-hipped dinosaurs that existed in Jurassic period.

Diplodocus had very impressive dimensions: height - 10 m, body length - 28-32 m, weight - 20-30 tons. 4 powerful legs helped him move, and his tail created balance.

Some researchers, for example, believe that the tail could also serve for communication between individuals in a flock. But its main purpose is protection from predators.

Diplodocus fed on vegetation, algae and small mollusks. The dinosaur's poorly developed teeth only allowed it to grind food, not chew it.

Shonisaurus is considered the largest fish lizard, or ichthyosaur. They existed in the Late Triassic period - 250-90 million years ago, hiding in the depths of the ocean.

The dimensions of shonisaurs were enormous: length - 12-14 m, weight - 30-40 tons. The skull reached 2 meters and had narrow jaws.

Most likely, they were hunters and preferred big fish.

The largest burial was found in Nevada in 1920. While mining for gold and silver, miners came across a giant skeleton.

All remains found belong to adults.

Sauroposeidon are giant sauropods that existed during the Cretaceous period - 125-100 million years ago.

WITH greek name This dinosaur is translated as "Poseidon's lizard".

The four-legged herbivore had gigantic dimensions: the length of the body reached 31-34 meters, and the weight of the lizard was 60 tons.

On the list of the most tall dinosaurs Sauroposeidon would take second place, since its height, including its elongated neck, is 20 m.

Female sauroposeidons laid hundreds of eggs, but, unfortunately, a catastrophically small number survived: 3-4 individuals. This is due to the fact that after hatching, the babies faced many dangers: apart from their size, they had no other protection.

Young sauroposeidons lived independently in forests, feeding around the clock to grow. Only upon reaching a certain size were they accepted into the flock.

This type lizards were discovered quite recently - 1994, Oklahoma, USA. Unusual remains were discovered in the prison yard. Moreover, the vertebrae initially found were mistaken for the trunk of a huge tree.

So unusual name The dinosaur acquired its name thanks to the dialect of the local languages Mapudungun. Translated as “chief giant”.

Futalognokosaurs lived in the Upper Cretaceous period - 94-85 million years ago - on the territory of modern South America.

Futalognosaurs grew up to 15 meters in height, 32-35 meters in length, and their weight reached 80 tons.

The remains of these giants were also discovered recently - in 2000, Neuquen province, Argentina.

Argentinosaurus is one of the largest dinosaurs that lived in South America.

Obviously, they didn’t think long about the name of this species: that’s what they called it, “lizard from Argentina.”

Individuals of Argentinosaurs could grow to unimaginable sizes: body length - 22-35 m, weight of the lizard - 60-110 tons.

They had a long neck. The 4 limbs were approximately the same in size - they used them to move. The ability to stand on two legs, shown in films about the Argentinosaurus, is controversial, since the size of the front legs and the volume of the body most likely would not have allowed him to do this.

The giants' diet consisted of leaves tall trees and other vegetation of the Cretaceous period. In order to grind the food in the stomach, they swallowed stones.

Mamenchisaurus are herbivorous sauropods. Existed in the Upper Jurassic period on the territory of modern East Asia about 145 million years ago.

Mamenchisaurs had the most long neck, reaching a length of 15 m. All the vertebrae in the neck, and there were about 19 of them, were fastened by rows of ligaments, thanks to which the neck was strong and motionless.

The entire bony skeleton was strong and had little mass due to the cavities in each bone.

The body length of the Mamenchisaurus was 25 meters, the weight of the lizards could be from 60 to 120 tons.

Despite the gigantic body size, the head of dinosaurs was small. They moved on 4 legs and ate leaves and other vegetation.

Amphicoelias – ever existing on the planet. Belongs to the genus of herbivorous giants.

The body length was 40-65 m, body weight reached 160 tons.

The cervical vertebrae were extremely light and allowed the amphicelias to support its neck. The head was small, and the huge body was clumsy, which is why these dinosaurs became easy prey for predatory lizards.

Such large amphicelias had to eat a lot, but even this had Negative consequences: they ate so many plants that after them many places became uninhabitable.

Amphicelias - the first open view herbivorous dinosaurs. The remains, or rather the only vertebral fragment found, were discovered in 1878 by archaeologist E. Kop.

Research by scientists has shown that Amphicelias is not only the largest dinosaur, but also the largest creature that has ever existed on the planet.