Fossils excavated in Uzbekistan reveal a previously unidentified dinosaur species that was twice the size of a double-decker bus, a new study reveals.
The gentle giant, named Dzharatitanis kingi, was about 20 meters tall and was a cousin of Diplodocus – the largest creature to ever walk the planet.
D. kingi inhabited a coastal plain at the westernmost point of the Asian landmass 100 million years ago, when Earth’s continents were still compacted.
The creature had a whip-like tail and long neck, which allowed it to reach high into the trees to satisfy its massive herbaceous appetite.
A dinosaur tailbone was excavated by an international team in the Bissekty Formation in the Kyzyl Kum Desert – known as Uzbekistan’s ‘dinosaur graveyard’.
Dzharatitanis kingi had a whip-like tail and a long neck, which made him reach high into the trees to satisfy his huge appetite
The Bissekty Formation has yielded “a large number of largely dissociated but often beautifully preserved skeletal remains” of vertebrates, researchers say.
D. kingi had a small head and razor-sharp pencil-like teeth and is said to have ripped entire branches from trees. The massive frame was supported by four pillar-like legs.
D. kingi existed during the Cretaceous period, which lasted from 145.5 and 65.5 million years ago.
It represents a new species as well as a new genus in the pre-existing rebbachisaurid family.
Rebbachisaurids were sauropods – one of the largest creatures to ever walk the Earth, some weighing the equivalent of 14 African elephants.
Remains of rebbachisaurids have been excavated in South America, Africa, North America and Europe, but never before in Asia.
The coccyx was excavated by an international team in the Bissekty Formation in the Kyzyl Kum Desert (photo) – known as Uzbekistan’s dinosaur graveyard
The Bissekty Formation in Uzbekistan has yielded “a large number of largely dissociated but often beautifully preserved skeletal remains” of vertebrates.
“This is the first rebbachisaurid reported from Asia and one of the youngest in the known fossil record,” said lead author Dr. Alexander Averianov of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg.
“It was a herbivore like all other sauropods and lived in a complex environment with many other dinosaurs.”
All previous data on rebbachisaurids comes from a narrow strip stretching from southernmost South America through northeastern South America and northwest Africa to Europe.
“Rebbachisaurids are interesting because they were mainly found in Africa and South America,” said Dr. Averianov.
Researchers have analyzed fossilized caudal vertebrae (pictured) from the deserts of Uzbekistan that were once part of the creature’s tail
The discovery of the first Asian rebbachisaurid, Dzharatitanis kingi, now significantly extends the group’s known distribution eastward.
“It supports the idea that these continents were still connected during the early Cretaceous.”
D. kingi inhabited a coastal plain near the Tethys Ocean at the westernmost point of the Asian landmass during the late Cretaceous.
The Tethys Ocean was a huge and shallow body of water that stood between what would become Europe, North Africa and Southeast Asia.
The Rebbachisaurids probably spread to Central Asia from Europe, but it is not clear when this could have happened.
For most of the Cretaceous Period, Asia was separated from Europe by a stretch of water called Turgai Strait, but a land connection existed between the two landmasses.
Rebbachisaurids, including D. kingi, may have crossed from Europe to Asia using a land bridge across the Strait of Turgai
“The Rebbachisaurids may have spread from Europe to Asia via a land bridge across the Turgai Strait,” said Dr. Averianov.
Some of the other dinosaurs in D. kingi’s time are said to have included the much smaller timurlengia, a type of therapode.
Timurlengia – a cousin of the terrifying Tyrannosaurus rex – was excavated at the same site five years ago and detailed in a research paper.
The brave predator is said to have had a mixture of skin and feathers and chased its prey across Central Asia.
“Timurlengia was a nimble pursuit hunter with slender, blade-like teeth suitable for slicing through meat,” said study author Professor Hans Sues of the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution.
“It probably hunted the several large herbivores, especially the early duckbill dinosaurs, that shared its world.”
Professor Sues is also a co-author of this new study by D. kingi, who has been published today in PLOS One.
SAUROPODS: LONG NECK AND SMALL BRAIN DINOSAURS
Sauropods were the first successful group of herbivorous dinosaurs, dominating most terrestrial ecosystems for more than 140 million years, from the late Triassic to the late Cretaceous.
They had long necks and tails and relatively small skulls and brains.
They stretched up to 40 meters and weighed up to 80 tons (80,000 kg) – 14 times the weight of an African elephant.
Sauropods were the first successful group of herbivorous dinosaurs, dominating most terrestrial ecosystems for more than 140 million years, from the late Triassic to the late Cretaceous.
They were widespread – their remains have been found on all continents except Antarctica.
They had nostrils high on their skull – instead of being located at the end of the snout like those of so many other land vertebrates.
Some fossils show that these nostril openings were so far into the skull that they were very close to the eye openings.
Sauropods like the Diplodocus began to diversify in the Middle Jurassic about 180 million years ago.
Source: University of California Museum of Paleontology