Dino News

Dwarf Dinosaur

From Aferensis, news of a dwarf sauropod species that is a cousin to the brachiosaurs, the largest animals ever to have lived.

These dwarf dinosaurs were slightly longer and heavier than a car, [palaeontologist Martin] Sander said. They stopped growing when they reached 6 metres (20 feet]) in length and a ton in body mass, he estimated. Their brachiosaur cousins, by contrast, were up to 45 metres (148 feet) long and weighed 80 tons, as much as a small town of over 1,000 inhabitants.

Europasaurus holgeri is named to honor the amateur (how cool is that?) discoverer of the fossils.

More about Europasaurus here.

Largest Armored Dinosaur

From Living the Scientific Life comes news of he largest armored dinosaur.

The biggest armored dinosaur to be discovered so far was recently found in southern Utah, in a rugged badland just south of Green River.

"It's built like a tank,"... "It will be the largest, heaviest armored dinosaur found on the planet so far."

Estimated to be 25-30 feet long and to weigh 6 tons, this newly discovered animal was adorned with spikes and bony plates along its back and sides, similar to another armored dinosaur that was also found in Utah. But its relatively diminutive cousin, Gastonia burgei is merely one-half as long and one-third as heavy as this still-unnamed creature.