Scientists Identify New Dinosaur Species Thailand From 30-Ton Fossil

Scientists identified a new dinosaur species Thailand from fossils found in northeastern Thailand. The long-necked animal, named Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis, may have weighed 30 tons and stretched over 88 feet long.

The discovery was announced Thursday in Scientific Reports, and researchers said the specimen is the most complete sauropod found in the Khok Kruat Formation. The bones came from 113-million-year-old rock and include vertebrae, ribs, hip bones and limb bones.

Sita Manitkoon Led The Study

Sita Manitkoon, a paleontologist at Mahasarakham University, led the team that described the animal. She said, "Initial measurements of the bones excavated suggested that this could be the largest dinosaur ever found in Southeast Asia."

The fossil was first uncovered in 2016 by Thanom Luangnan in Chaiyaphum Province, who reported strange rocks to the Department of Mineral Resources. Researchers later linked the remains to a somphospondyli sauropod, adding a rare full specimen to a record that had mostly consisted of fragments before this find.

Chaiyaphum Province Fossils

Pedro Mocho, a paleontologist at the Universidade de Lisboa and a study coauthor, said, "This is the most complete sauropod specimen discovered from the Khok Kruat Formation." The formation points to a landscape of relatively open, slightly dry shrublands, and the dinosaur lived when Thailand was closer to the equator.

The broader study says sauropod dinosaurs evolved giant body sizes more than 30 times over more than a hundred million years on at least six landmasses. For local finder Thanom Luangnan, the rocks on a public pond bank turned into the specimen that now defines the largest dinosaur estimate yet reported from Southeast Asia.