The Largest Dinosaur Ever Discovered

By Douglas A. McIntyre Published Aug 15, 1:00PM EDT

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The Largest Dinosaur Ever Discovered — © Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

The Mesozoic Era, also known as the age of dinosaurs, lasted from 252 to 66 million years ago. It likely ended when an asteroid struck Earth, spewing minerals into the air that caused lasting winter conditions and prevented plant growth. Most animals died out due to lack of food. (These are 17 cataclysmic events that changed the earth forever.)

Paleontologists’ understanding of dinosaurs, including their size and types, has evolved over time as new fossils are frequently discovered. Each year the Smithsonian publishes a list of the top dinosaur finds. The current record holder for largest dinosaur is the Argentinosaurus found in Argentina in 2012.

There is debate over whether “largest” should be based on weight or length. The Argentinosaurus measures 131 feet long and weighs 110 tons, making it the largest by both metrics. (Today, this is the biggest animal in the world.)

This record may change again in the future. Humans have only been discovering dinosaurs since 1822, when British paleontologist Mary Ann Mantell first found fossilized bones. If humans are around as long as dinosaurs were, more large dinosaurs will likely be uncovered.

Click here to see the largest dinosaurs in history

15. Shingopana songwensis
> Length: 26 feet
> Weight: 5.5 tons
> Diet: Herbivorous
> Fossils found in: Tanzania

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14. Saltasaurus
> Length: 42 feet
> Weight: 7.7-8 tons
> Diet: Herbivorous
> Fossils found in: Argentina

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13. Spinosaurus
> Length: 41-59 feet
> Weight: 10 tons
> Diet: Carnivorous
> Fossils found in: Egypt

Ra... (CC BY 3.0) by Nobu Tamura

12. Rapetosaurus krausei
> Length: 49 feet
> Weight: 16 tons
> Diet: Herbivorous
> Fossils found in: Madagascar

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11. Diplodocus longus
> Length: 80 feet
> Weight: 16.3 tons
> Diet: Herbivorous
> Fossils found in: North America

Elaltitan lilloi Skeletal Mk II Gunnar Bivens by Bricksmashtv4

Elaltitan lilloi Skeletal Mk II Gunnar Bivens (CC BY-SA 4.0) by Bricksmashtv4

10. Elaltitan lilloi
> Length: 59 feet
> Weight: 60 tons
> Diet: Herbivorous
> Fossils found in: Argentina

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9. Brachiosaurus Altithorax
> Length: 59-69 feet
> Weight: 62 tons
> Diet: Herbivorous
> Fossils found in: North America

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8. Giraffatitan brancai
> Length: 74 feet
> Weight: 37.5 tons
> Diet: Herbivorous
> Fossils found in: Tanzania

7. Austroposeidon magnificus
> Length: 82 feet
> Weight: 30-32 tons
> Diet: Herbivorous
> Fossils found in: Brazil

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Turiasaurus scale (CC BY-SA 4.0) by Dinoguy2

6. Turiasaurus riodevensis
> Length: 118-128 feet
> Weight: 40-48 tons
> Diet: Herbivorous
> Fossils found in: Spain

Futalognkosaurus BW (CC BY 3.0) by N. Tamura

5. Futalognkosaurus dukei
> Length: 102-112 feet
> Weight: 42-50 tons
> Diet: Herbivorous
> Fossils found in: Argentina

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Dreadnoughtus Published Reconstruction by ArcaneHalveKnot

Dreadnoughtus Published Reconstruction (CC BY-SA 4.0) by ArcaneHalveKnot

4. Dreadnoughtus
> Length: 85 feet
> Weight: 65.4 tons
> Diet: Herbivorous
> Fossils found in: Argentina

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3. Sauroposeidon proteles
> Length: 111 feet
> Weight: 55-66 tons
> Diet: Herbivorous
> Fossils found in: North America

Paralititan stromeri by dmitrchel@mail.ru

Paralititan stromeri (CC BY 3.0) by [email protected]

2. Paralititan
> Length: 100 feet
> Weight: 83 tons
> Diet: Herbivorous
> Fossils found in: Egypt

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1. Argentinosaurus
> Length: 131 feet
> Weight: 110 tons
> Diet: Herbivorous
> Fossils found in: Argentina

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.