Scientists dig up Southeast Asia’s largest dinosaur

Key Points:

• Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis, discovered in northeastern Thailand, is the largest-known dinosaur from Southeast Asia, measuring nearly 90 feet long and weighing 25 to 28 tons, belonging to the sauropod lineage characterized by long necks and tails.
• Fossils including spine, rib, pelvis, and leg bones were found, with the dinosaur likely feeding on high volumes of vegetation like conifers and seed ferns in a subtropical climate with forests and savanna-like habitats.
• Nagatitan lived alongside smaller predators, including a 26-foot-long relative of Carcharodontosaurus, but its massive size likely deterred most predation, with only vulnerable individuals at risk.
• This dinosaur provides important insights into sauropod diversity in Southeast Asia, representing the largest and youngest sauropod from the region before it became a shallow sea later in the Cretaceous Period.
• Nagatitan's existence during a period of rising global temperatures and atmospheric CO2 suggests a possible link between large sauropod body size and high climatic temperatures, reflecting ecological conditions before the peak of dinosaur gigantism.