Megatitanosaur 'Shiva the destroyer' discovered in Argentina. This is what it looked like. Watch!

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This newly discovered dinosaur, B. Shiva, is among the largest sauropods, and as per a study published December 18, 2023, in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, stretched an impressive 98 feet (29.87 metres) in length and is thought to have weighed about 74 tonnes

Hindu deity Shiva 'the destroyer' has inspired the name of a titan dinosaur that roamed Argentina more than 90 million years ago. A fossil of the colossal creature named Bustingorrytitan Shiva was discovered late last year in western Argentina.

This is what it looked like:

Mega-Titanosaurs

Found in the North Patagonia region of southern South America, the discovery of B. shiva adds to the family of "megatitanosaurs"- enormous titanosaurs that exceeded 55 tonnes (50 metric tons). This finding indicates that such giant sauropods evolved separately within their lineage titanosaurs, said the study lead author María Edith Simón, a palaeontologist who ran the B. shiva excavation.

The remains of B. shiva were initially unearthed by a local farmer named Manuel Bustingorry in 2000, and subsequent excavations led by palaeontologist María Edith Simón have revealed at least four individual dinosaurs from this species.

These include a relatively complete skeleton alongside three other partial specimens, all dating back to the Huincul Formation, the same geological formation where the famous Argentinosaurus was discovered.

Bustingorrytitan Shiva

Unlike other known sauropods, B. shiva exhibits unique characteristics such as distinctively shaped crests on the humerus and femur, reports Live Science.

This differentiation suggests the presence of at least two gigantic titanosaur lineages — B. Shiva's saltasauroids and Argentinosaurus' lognkosaurs — coexisting in North Patagonia during the middle of the Cretaceous period(145 million to 66 million years ago).

"Ecologically, each of the sauropods were distinct from one another, with different teeth, heads and bodies," Simón told Live Science.

"This shows that they were all able to find a form where they could live without competing with one another."

The name "Bustingorrytitan" combines the surname of the farmer who found the fossils with "titan," a nod to the giants of Greek mythology. The species name "Shiva" as per Simón, references the supreme deity of Shaivism, who destroys and transforms the universe.

The cretaceous period, as per the study, saw the extinction of certain dinosaur groups such as early diplodocoid sauropods and certain titanosaurs and the rise of others, with B. Shiva's lineage surviving until the end of the Cretaceous period.

(With inputs from agencies)

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