Paleontology experts confirmed that Australia's largest dinosaur species had been discovered, and it is much larger than the biggest living animal on the planet. The Australotitan cooperensis, nicknamed Cooper, scales about 80 to 100 feet long, or 25 to 30 meters in length, and 15 to 20 feet, or 4 to 6 meters in height.
Meet Cooper, Dinosaur Bigger Than Blue Whale
Cooper, weighing 25 to 80 tons, or 22000 to 73000 kilograms, is significantly larger than the famous tyrannosaurus rex, which is about 40 feet (12 meters) long and 12 feet (4 meters) tall. With the humongous size, Cooper is also suspected to be much bigger than the Antarctic blue whale, the world's largest living animal.
The experts who unearthed Cooper said that the Australian dinosaur is among the top 15 largest dinosaurs discovered around the globe. They mentioned that Cooper's size is on par with the titanic dinosaurs found in South America, NPR reports. The bones of the dinosaur were first discovered back in 2006, but thankfully, with the help of the Eromanga Natural History Museum and Queensland Museum, the fossils were confirmed as the Australian cooperensis. The discovery of the largest Australian dinosaur was published in the peer-reviewed journal PeerJ entitled "A new giant sauropod, Australotitan cooperensis gen. et sp. nov., from the mid-Cretaceous of Australia."
Scott Hocknull, Queensland Museum's paleontologist and co-author of the study, stated in an interview with ABC News that the excavation and research for Cooper were challenging. It took a long time to find the results of comparison between Cooper's bone and all other dinosaur species across countries, he added.
But the discovery of the Australian behemoth was definitely worthwhile. It was a great contribution not only to paleontology studies but also to our imaginative minds. Visualizing a dinosaur almost the size of a basketball court roaming around the pre-historic landmasses is surely exciting.
Australotitan Cooperenses: Largest Titanosaur
The Australotitan cooperenses were excavated in southwest Queensland, a rural Australian outback near Eromanga. The scientific name was inspired by Cooper Creek, the area where the dinosaur was found.
According to senior research assistant of the Queensland Museum Róchelle Lawrence, Cooper existed around 92 to 69 million years ago in the Australian outbacks when part of Queensland was still attached to Antarctica.
The dinosaur belongs to the category of titanosaurians, the larger group of the reptilian clade. The discovery of the giant dinosaur in Australia caught the interest of other experts, as most of the super-large titanosaurs are commonly found in South America.
The findings with Cooper can lead to other comprehensive paleontology studies in Australian regions. Scientists expect to find more of the dinosaur and other supergiant titanosaurs in the vast spaces of the Australian and Antarctic continents that existed in the same time period. Like Cooper, anticipated dinosaurs in the regions include most sauropods species.
Sauropods have gigantic features, including a long tail and neck, big hips, and four legs. These species are also known to eat plants. Other bones are also located in the area where Cooper was found. These bones will also undergo several studies if they are also a set of new species.
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