Search Extinct Animals
Search Extinct Animals
The mental image most people conjure of dinosaurs is of large animals walking the Earth eons ago. Sauropods, especially titanosaurs, are some of the most enormous animals that have ever lived, about 10 times heavier than the largest land animal alive today – the African Elephant. Besides those, some of the other behemoths include Spinosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, and Triceratops.
The reason why the dinosaurs grew so large has yet to be ascertained, with most of the hypotheses – like excess oxygen in the atmosphere or low gravity – have been debunked.
Height: 40 feet
Barosaurus is a sauropod that lived in the Upper Jurassic, with remains found in the Morrison Formation in the United States.
Height: 40 feet
Dreadnoughtus is a sauropod from the Upper Cretaceous, precisely one of the titanosaurs. Two partial skeletons have been found in the Cerro Fortaleza Formation in Argentina, helping to make it one of the few titanosaurs with a near-perfect completed skeleton recorded.
Height: 36 feet
Diplodocus longus walked the Earth during the Jurassic. They were common in what would eventually become North America, with fossils discovered in the Morrison Formation.
Height: 30 feet
Paralititan was a titanosaurian sauropod that lived in the Upper Cretaceous. Their fossils have been discovered in the Bahariya Formation, indicating they lived in what is currently the country of Egypt.
Height: 26 feet
These sauropods have been found in western North America, though fossils of the species have been rare. It was around during the Late Jurassic.
Height: 23 feet
Sauroposeidon proteles is a sauropod native to North America and active in the Early Cretaceous. It is also the state dinosaur of Texas.
Height: 23 feet
Shantungosaurus giganteus was a hadrosaurid that was found in Late Cretaceous. Fossils of this dinosaur were found in China.
Height: 20 feet
Patagotitan mayorum is a sauropod whose fossils were found in Patagonia, Argentina, specifically in the Cerro Barcino Formation in Chubut Province. It lived in the Cretaceous Period.
Height: 20 feet
A sauropod from the Late Cretaceous, Puertasaurus lived in the Patagonia region in Argentina. It is known from a single specimen, so its size has been difficult to ascertain.
Height: 20 feet
Spinosaurus was a terrestrial carnivore that lived in the Late Cretaceous. It is well known for its sail-like structure on its back and lived in the part of the world that is currently known as North Africa.
Height: 20 feet
Tyrannosaurus rex is a theropod that lived in the Upper Cretaceous in the part of the world that is currently western North America. It was one of the few non-avian dinosaurs around before the mass extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous that wiped out the dinosaurs.
Height: 19 feet
Ruyangosaurus is a titanosaurian sauropod that lived in the Early Cretaceous. Fossils in the Haoling Formation of China indicate a length of 98 ft and a weight of 50+ tonnes – making it a ‘mega-sauropod.’
Height: 18 feet
Supersaurus is a sauropod that lived in the Late Jurassic in the area that is currently North America. It was informally given this name in 1973 before officially receiving the designation in 1985.
Height: 18 feet
Turiasaurus is a sauropod that is known from a single fossil specimen in the Kimmeridgian Villar del Arzobispo Formation, Spain. It is believed to be the largest dinosaur in all of Europe.
Height: 15 feet
Antarctosaurus wichmannianus is a sauropod that walked the Earth in the Late Cretaceous of what is now the continent of South America. Despite what its name indicates, the first fossils were found in Argentina, not in Antarctica.
Height: 13 feet
While small compared to other sauropods, Saltasaurus is still relatively large despite its shorter neck and legs. They also have bony plates embedded in their skin, similar to those found on other titanosaurians. It lived during the Late Cretaceous in the part of the world that is currently Argentina.
Height: 13 feet
Shingopana is a titanosaurian sauropod that lived in the Upper Cretaceous. Fossil records from the Galula Formation indicate that this sauropod lived in what is modern-day Tanzania.
Height: 12 feet
One of the largest carnivores that ever lived in the Late Cretaceous, Giganotosaurus lived in what is present-day Argentina and fed on juvenile sauropods.
Height: 10 feet
Known for its bony frill and three-horned face, Triceratops lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is currently western North America. It used its horns like modern-day ungulates use their horns and antlers.
Height: 10 feet
Nicknamed “meat-eating bull” because of the two horns protruding over its eyes, Carnotaurus was a theropod from the Late Cretaceous period whose fossils have been found in South America. It was an effective predator, lightly built despite its size, with studies indicating that it may have hunted sauropods larger than itself.