The discovery of some bones at the edge of a pond in Thailand a decade ago has led to the identification of a new type of dinosaur, with a massive size, long neck and tail, and a plant diet.Named “Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis” by researchers in Thailand and London, the reptile is the largest dinosaur ever to be discovered in Southeast Asia.Weighing in at an estimated 27 metric tons — or almost 60,000 pounds — it was approximately 27 meters long, or almost 89 feet, according to the study published in the journal Scientific Reports on Thursday. For context, a large Tyrannosaurus rex would have weighed between 9,000 and 15,000 pounds and been more than 12 meters long (about 39 feet).Researcher Thitiwoot Sethapanichsakul poses with a front leg bone, or humerus, of the Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis at the Sirindhorn Museum in Kalasin Province, Thailand, in 2024. – Thitiwoot Sethapanichsakul/Handout/ReutersNagatitan chaiyaphumensis belonged to a group of dinosaurs known as sauropods, which were the largest animals ever to walk on land. Among these plant-eating, long-necked, thick-legged dinosaurs, with a torso containing a huge gut, were the Diplodocus and Brontosaurus.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe newly discovered dinosaur’s humerus, or front leg bone, measured 1.78 meters (almost six feet) in length, according to a statement.“We don’t have a lot of specimens that are of that scale in Thailand,” lead study author and paleontologist Thitiwoot Sethapanichsakul, a PhD student at University College London, told CNN on Friday.“When I first laid eyes on the humerus, it was taller than me, and that was quite surprising,” he continued, adding that the dinosaur is about double the size of another known sauropod species in Thailand.Childhood dream fulfilledThe leg bone was among several fossils discovered by a local resident on the side of a communal pond in northeastern Thailand in 2016, during the dry season when the water levels were lower.AdvertisementAdvertisementSkeletal remains were found during fieldwork there between 2016 and 2019, and further excavation work took place in 2024.The researchers — from UCL and Thailand’s Department of Mineral Resources, Mahasarakham University and Suranaree University of Technology — took 3D scans of the remains, which came from the dinosaur’s leg bones, spine, ribs and pelvis, before analyses revealed the animal was a previously unknown species.Skeletal reconstruction of the Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis, with recovered fossil specimens high …
