Australia's largest dinosaur identified as new found species

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Image: (C)EROMAN MUSEUM
Image: (C)EROMAN MUSEUM

Sydney : A gigantic dinosaur remains have been found in Australia and it has been identified as a new species and recognized as one of the largest to ever roam the Earth, according to paleontologists.

The Australotitan cooperensis, part of the titanosaur family that lived about 100 million years ago, has finally been named and described 15 years after its bones were first uncovered.

According to the information, it was estimated to have stood at 5-6.5 meters high and measured 25-30 meters in length, making it Australia's biggest dinosaur found till date.

"Based on the preserved limb size comparisons, this new titanosaur is estimated to be in the top five largest in the world," said Robyn Mackenzie, a director of the Eromanga Natural History Museum.

The fossilized bones were found on Mackenzie's family farm in 2006 about 1,000 kilometers west of Brisbane in the Eromanga Basin and nicknamed "Cooper."

At first, the findings were kept as a secret as scientists dug up more and studied the bones, the skeleton first went on display to the public in 2007.

Scott Hocknull, a paleontologist at Queensland Museum, said it had been a "very long and painstaking task" to confirm the Australotitan was a new species.

He also mentioned that the skeleton of several other dinosaurs were also found in that area.

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