Giant new dinosaur identified from fossils in Thailand

A caller benignant of elephantine long-necked dinosaur has been identified by scientists from remains dug up successful Thailand.

The nagatitan, the largest-ever dinosaur recovered successful South-East Asia, weighed 27 tonnes - arsenic overmuch arsenic 9 big Asian elephants - and measured 27m (88ft) successful length, longer than a diplodocus. Like that dinosaur, it belonged to the sauropod household of long-necked herbivores.

A squad of researchers from the UK and Thailand identified the taxon from fossils recovered beside a pond successful north-eastern Thailand a decennary ago.

They accidental the find sheds airy connected however changes successful past climatic conditions allowed gigantic dinosaurs to develop.

The dinosaur's afloat sanction is Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis, with "naga" referring to a serpent successful South-East Asian folklore, "titan" referring to the gods successful Greek mythology, and chaiyaphumensis meaning "from Chaiyaphum", the state wherever the fossils were discovered.

It lived betwixt 100 and 120 cardinal years agone - astir 40 cardinal years earlier than the tyrannosaurus rex - and is astir doubly the size of that creature.

Thitiwoot Sethapanichsakul, a Thai doctoral pupil astatine University College London (UCL), was the pb writer of the survey which was published successful the Scientific Reports journal.

He said the researchers referred to the nagatitan arsenic "the past titan" of Thailand, due to the fact that the fossils were recovered successful the country's youngest dinosaur-bearing stone formation.

"Younger rocks laid down towards the extremity of the clip of the dinosaurs are improbable to incorporate dinosaur remains due to the fact that the portion by past had go a shallow sea. So this whitethorn beryllium the past oregon astir caller ample sauropod we volition find successful South-East Asia," helium said.

Sethapanichsakul, a self-confessed "dinosaur kid", said successful a UCL property merchandise that the survey besides "fulfils a puerility committedness of naming a dinosaur".

The nagatitan is the 14th dinosaur to beryllium named successful Thailand. Palaeontologist Dr Sita Manitkoon, from Mahasarakham University, said that the state has a precocious diverseness successful dinosaur fossils and is "possibly the 3rd astir abundant successful Asia successful presumption of dinosaur remains".

The nagatitan roamed Earth erstwhile the planet's atmospheric c dioxide levels were rising successful enactment with precocious planetary temperatures.

The study's co-author, UCL's Prof Paul Upchurch, said the sauropod household of dinosaurs had go rather ample astatine this time, telling National Geographic: "It seems a small unusual that sauropods were capable to header with higher somesthesia conditions", arsenic ample bodies clasp vigor and are harder to chill down.

He told the Reuters quality bureau that it was "likely that the precocious temperatures had an interaction connected the works fodder ​that was important to sauropods, which were precise large-bodied herbivores".