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Gondwanatitan faustoi

Some members of the titanosaur group were giants, at about 30 meters (100 feet) long. Gondwanatitan was a peewee at only about 7.5 meters (25 feet) long. It was discovered in Brazil in the early 1980s.

Stats

Scientific Name: Gondwanatitan faustoi
Pronunciation: gon-DWAN-uh-TIE-ton FOW-stoh-eye
Meaning: "Gondwana" is the continental mass that once united South America, Australia, Antarctica, Africa, and India; "titan" is a giant in Greek mythology
Fossils Found: Brazil
Age: Late Cretaceous, 85 to 71 million years ago
Length: 6 to 7.5 meters (20 to 24 feet) long
Characteristics: Titanosaurs were common on Gondwanan continents.

Story

Big Bones Found in Brazil
In 1983, Yoshitoshi Myzobuchi discovered some fossil bones on his farm in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He showed them to a paleontologist in the area who identified the bones as belonging to a titanosaurid dinosaur. After the fossils were gathered, they remained unstudied until 1997. It was then discovered to be a new kind of sauropod. This Gondwanatitan faustoi specimen is the most complete sauropod ever found in Brazil.

Stumper

Polished stones have been found in the rib-cage bones of some sauropods. How did they get there?

sauropods used to fight by throwing stones

sauropods swallowed them to help them grind their food

sauropods built stone houses for their young

Correct!

Scientists think sauropods swallowed their food whole, and used stones to grind it up in their bodies. Some modern birds do the same thing in their gizzards!

Fact or Fiction

Gondwanatitan gets its name from Sir Reginald Gondwana, the paleontologist who discovered this dinosaur species.

Fact

Fiction

This dinosaur was named for Gondwana, the ancient mega-continent that began to split up near the end of the Mesozoic Period.

Image credits: main image, Rick Spears.

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