New dinosaur weighing as much as 9 elephants identified by scientists

Scientists have identified a massive new dinosaur from remains discovered in Thailand, with the creature estimated to have weighed as much as nine adult elephants.

The long-necked herbivore stretched 88 feet and weighed about 27 tons, according to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports.

It probably roamed what is now Thailand between 100 million and 120 million years ago and is the largest ever found in Southeast Asia, researchers said.

They estimated the new dinosaur had the same heft as nine adult Asian elephants.

“Our dinosaur is big by most people’s standards — it likely weighed at least 10 tons more than Dippy the Diplodocus,” said lead researcher Thitiwoot Sethapanichsakul, referring to the enormous composite cast previously on display at London’s Natural History Museum.

The Thai Ph.D. student called the newly discovered sauropod “the last titan” because it was unearthed in one the youngest rock formations where dinosaurs are found in Thailand, according to University College London.

The region later became a shallow sea, he added, “so this may be the last or most recent large sauropod we will find in Southeast Asia.”

The first remains of the enormous creature were unearthed a decade ago by locals in northeast Thailand, but the excavation was not completed until 2024, according to the study, published Thursday.

The remains partially resembled those of previously discovered sauropods, but had enough unique features to be considered a new species.

It has been dubbed Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis after a “mythological serpent-like creature found in various Asian cultures, especially in northeastern Thailand, often associated with water and Buddhism, and titan, a giant in Greek mythology,” the authors write.

At the time the Nagatitan roamed the region, the ecosystem’s largest predator was a relative of the meat-eating dinosaur Carcharodontosaurus, which measured about 26 feet long and weighed about 3.5 tons.

“At that size, it was dwarfed by Nagatitan. At full size, Nagatitan likely had very little to fear in terms of predation,” Sethapanichsakul told the Reuters news agency.

A life-size reconstruction is on display at Bangkok’s Thainosaur Museum, according to University College London.

In 2023, a dinosaur skeleton uncovered by scientists in northeastern Thailand was also deemed to be newly discovered species. The skeleton of Minimocursor phunoiensis — which lived 150 million years ago on what is now the Khorat Plateau — represented “one of the best-preserved dinosaurs ever found in Southeast Asia,” scientists said at the time.