Nagatitan provides insight into the range of sauropods in the region. Not many sauropods are known from Southeast Asia, and Nagatitan is the largest and the smallest geologically.
Along a meandering river in what is now a hot, arid region Thailandabout 113 million years ago, a herbivorous behemoth nearly 90 feet (27 meters) tall roamed the treetops with little fear of predators due to its size. This was Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis, the largest known dinosaur from Southeast Asia.
Researchers have been able to unearthed the skeletal remains of Nagatitan, a member of the dinosaur family called sauropods known for having a long neck, long tail, small head, and four webbed feet.
The remains of this Cretaceous Period dinosaur were first seen by a villager in Thailand’s north-eastern province of Chaiyaphum. Scientists over the years then excavated the spine, ribs, pelvis, and leg bones, including the 5.8-foot-long (1.78 m) front leg bone – the humerus.
Based on measurements of its humerus and femur, the corresponding hind leg bone, researchers estimated Nagatitan’s body weight to be 25 to 28 tons. Its head and teeth were not among the fossils found, but researchers have a good idea of its feeding preferences compared to other sauropods.
“Nagatitan was probably a large browser that focused on consuming many plants that required little chewing, such as sycamores and perhaps seed ferns,” said Thitiwoot Sethapanichsakul, a University of London doctoral student in paleontology and lead author of the study published Thursday, May 14, in the journal. Scientific reports.
The climate was probably subtropical, with some forests, but also savanna-like shrubland habitats. Nagatitan lived alongside various other dinosaurs as well as flying reptiles called pterosaurs. The rivers were full of crocodiles and fish, including sharks.
The ecosystem’s top predator was a relative of the giant meat-eating African dinosaur Carcharodontosaurus, probably 26 feet (8 meters) long and about 3.5 tons.
“At that size, it was very small with Nagatitan. At full size, Nagatitan had very little fear in terms of hunting,” Sethapanichsakul said.
Predators probably avoided attacking healthy adults of any large sauropod species because of the risk of being mauled. But they may have targeted older or sick adults or vulnerable children.
“In fact, sauropods are known to grow very quickly after hatching, and this is probably related to the risk of predation. The bigger the sauropods grew, the safer they were because it would be more difficult to deal with,” University College London. a paleontologist and study co-author Paul Upchurch said.
Sauropods are among the largest land animals in Earth’s history. Nagatitan was large by any standard, but not on the scale of South American sauropods such as Argentinosaurus and Patagotitan that reached 100 feet (30 meters) in length.
The name Nagatitan refers to the Naga, a snake-like creature in some Asian religious traditions who is prominently depicted in various Thai temples. In total, there are 14 dinosaurs known from Thailand.
The names of several large sauropods include the word titan. Sethapanichsakul said it may be correct to call Southeast Asia’s Nagatitan the last “titan” because the area became a shallow sea later in the Cretaceous, meaning no more sauropods would have lived there.
Nagatitan provides insight into the range of sauropods in the region. Not many sauropods are known from Southeast Asia, and Nagatitan is the largest and the smallest geologically. Nagatitan belonged to a small group of sauropods that had skeletons with many internal air pockets and thin walls, characteristics that reduced their bones.
This group originated around 140 million years ago, gained a global distribution, and, around 90 million years ago, became the only remaining sauropods worldwide, thriving until the age of dinosaurs ended 66 million years ago with an asteroid impact.
Nagatitan lived at a time when carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were rising, corresponding to global warming.
“Sauropods seem to be very large at this time, with large species living in South America, China, maybe North Africa, and now with Nagatitan, the largest in Southeast Asia,” Upchurch said.
“This possible relationship between large body size and high climate temperatures is not fully understood, but it is likely that high temperatures had an effect on the plant diet that was important for sauropods, which were very large herbivores. Nagatitan provides a glimpse of the period leading up to the final peak in body size and temperature about 10 to 15 million years later,” Upchurch said. – Rappler.com
