In pictures: Fossils of cow-sized titanosaur unearthed in Patagonia
Palaeontologists have found bone fragments of Titanomachya gimenezi, a miniature titan among the gigantic sauropods.
When we think about sauropod dinosaurs, our mind paints a vivid picture of huge plant-eating creatures with long necks, small heads, and pillar-like legs. Undoubtedly, these were among the biggest beasts that have ever roamed the Earth.
However, paleontologists have now unearthed a new species of sauropod dinosaur that breaks these expectations to some extent.
It’s time to introduce to the world Titanomachya gimenezi—a miniature titan among sauropods.
The species is a member of the titanosaur family, a diversified group of sauropod dinosaurs that existed from 90 to 66 million years ago in the late Cretaceous period.
Titanosaurs were exceptionally huge, but this new species was ten times smaller compared to its relatives. For perspective, the new dinosaur was roughly about the size of a large cow.
Interestingly, this species existed a few million years before the violent asteroid event that completely wiped out the dinosaurs from Earth. That’s why the discovery of this new species is incredibly important—it offers a window into the distant past as well as diverse life forms that lived in prehistoric Patagonia.
The dig was carried out by a team of paleontologists from Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio (MEF) in Trelew, Argentina, CONICET, and Diego Pol, a National Geographic explorer.
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Paleontologists at the excavation site with the fossilized remains
The partially fossilized bones were unearthed from the La Colonia formation in Patagonia's Chubut region. In the past, this fossil-rich formation has yielded remarkable remains of various ancient creatures such as predatory dinosaurs, plesiosaurs, turtles, and more. The team meticulously worked to recover the bones without causing them damage from the rock formation. The experts also protected the remains with burlap and plaster fabric before safely taking them to the laboratory for further study. (Image: Vincent Brusca) - 2/6
A digital reconstruction of the Titanomachya skeleton
The fossils consisted of ribs, vertebrae, limb bones, and a hip. The remains helped paleontologists to digitally reconstruct the skeleton of Titanomachya. The researchers identified the fossils as belonging to a new titanosaur species based on extensive bone examination. The newly identified species trampled parts of Argentine Patagonia around 66 million years ago, during the end of the Cretaceous period. Despite its relatively small size, the dinosaur weighed around seven tons. (Image: Gabriel Lio) - 3/6
The size of the newly identified species as compared to a human
According to National Geographic, an adult member of the species would have reached a height of about 20 feet, which makes it relatively small compared to other colossal specimens found in Chubut. Interestingly, T. gimenezi is only the second dinosaur discovered in the La Colonia formation and the first sauropod ever. Patagotitan mayorum, another giant discovered in Chubut, was about 40 meters long, with a neck measuring 12 meters and a hefty weight of 70 tons. (Image: Gabriel Lio) - 4/6
A close-up view of the giant bone fragments
The largest specimen of the titanosaur family was about 100 feet tall and weighed over 70 tons. T. gimenezi lived in Patagonia, particularly during the Maastrichtian geological time, which was the last stage of the Cretaceous period. Patagonia looked quite different back then than it does now. (Image: Vincent Brusca) - 5/6
A reconstruction of the lush wetlands of ancient Patagonia
The environmental reconstructions of the La Colonia formation provide unique insights into Patagonia's prehistoric ecosystems. The region was covered in estuaries and marshes. Moreover, the landscape was rich in vegetation, including various plant species like palm trees, aquatic flowering plants, and conifers. (Image: Gabriel Díaz Yantén) - 6/6
A depiction of the small-sized Titanomachya
The small size of this newly identified species compared to its titanosaur cousins has opened a new evolutionary puzzle for paleontologists. They have proposed several hypotheses to explain why this particular species evolved to be smaller. Reportedly, one possibility is that Titanomachya's small size was likely a result of adaptation to environmental pressures. “The findings in La Colonia not only offer crucial information about the populations of sauropods in Patagonia during the end of the Cretaceous period, but also about the diversity of the region's ecosystems at that time," the authors noted in the press release. The findings have been published in the journal Historical Biology.