A 6-foot-tall dinosaur? Smallest-ever Titanosaurs to have walked the Earth discovered in Argentina

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The smallest Titanosaurs: The project aims to bridge the gap in humanity's knowledge of the final 15 million years of the Cretaceous Period. It focuses on the dinosaurs and vertebrates that thrived in Argentina's Patagonia during this critical period.

The world of palaeontology has found a new member. Palaeontologists in Argentina have unveiled a new species of Titanosaur named Titanomachya gimenezi from the late Cretaceous Epoch, a period between 66 to 145 million years ago. 

The discovery took place in the Chubut province of Patagonian Argentina. The fossils of Titanomachya were found among forelimbs, hindlimbs, and fragments of ribs and vertebrae. This marks the first sauropod species recognised from this formation.

"The morphology of the talus - the bone responsible for distributing the force coming from the tibia on the inside of the foot - was never seen before in other titanosaurs and shows intermediate traits between the Colossosauria and Saltasauroidea lineages, highlighting its evolutionary importance," first author Agustín Pérez Moreno from CONICET and Museo de La Plata in a statement. 

Size of new Titanosaur species

Its size was 10 times smaller than its largest titanosaur relative. For instance, Patagotitan mayorum was about 130 feet in length and weighed a massive 70 tonnes. Titanomachya gimenez, on the other hand, weighed just about seven tonnes and was just as tall as a cow.

Scientists measured the tibia and fibula fossils that they found to conclude that this titanosaur was nothing like the commonly known beast that a titanosaur is. In fact, the Titanomachya gimenez stood at just 6 feet tall. That's quite some dip for a giant species like titanosaurs. 

Their significance with respect to their smaller size, however, lies in the broader picture of dinosaur diversity during the late Cretaceous period.

What is the project about?

The discovery is part of an effort between the National Geographic Society and over 10 museums and universities in Argentina, including the Museo de La Plata. 

The project aims to bridge the gap in humanity's knowledge of the final 15 million years of the Cretaceous Period. It focuses on the dinosaurs and vertebrates that thrived in Patagonia during this critical period.

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