Meet
Dreadnoughtus schrani, a newly described species of herbivorous dinosaur so massive paleontologists named it after 20th century dreadnought sailing ships because the f***er was so big it probably wasn't afraid of anything. Although maybe the one whose bones were discovered should have been afraid of drowning in quicksand, because that's how it died. Never get too cocky, that's the message here.
The unique haul of bones includes a metre-wide neck vertebra, a thigh bone that stands as tall as a man, and ribs the size of planks, representing the most complete skeleton of a colossal plant-eating titanosaur recovered anywhere in the world. From measurements of the bones, scientists worked out that Dreadnoughtus weighed nearly 60 tonnes and reached 26 metres from snout to tail, making it the largest land animal for which an accurate body mass can be calculated. Though staggering in its dimensions, close inspection of the bones revealed that the animal was not fully grown when it died. "That was a real shock to us," Lacorvara told the Guardian. "When you look at the bones of dreadnoughtus, it's clear this individual was still growing fast. There are no indications of a cessation of growth."
Now I know I might have just stripped naked, taped a bunch of leaves to myself and climbed a tree hoping to attract the attention of this new dino, but honestly, I'm more into the carnivorous species. I like to be afraid of being eaten by a lover. If I were a spider, I would only bang black widows. I'm not a spider though, so I smash every one I see with a shoe. Keep going for a size comparison and a video about the newly discovered species.
