Day 196#: Ruyangosaurus giganteus
Merry day twenty-five of Dino-December! Today's animal of the day is Ruyangosaurus giganteus!
Image credit: Zhao Chuang
This species of titanosaur lived during the Early Cretaceous period in what is now China, and is named after the Ruyang County of the western Henan Province. It is considered one of the largest dinosaurs to be found in Asia during the Cretaceous period, though paleontologists disagree about exactly how big this sauropod actually was. Originally, it was described as being around 98 ft long and weighing about 55 tons! However, another estimate put Ruyangosaurus a whopping 115 ft long! Then, a 2020 study produced a significantly lower estimate of around 81 ft long. Sauropods, especially the largest species, are notorious for not fossilizing well, since their large bodies are very rarely covered fully by sediment, which would have protected the body from being damaged by predators or the weather. So, usually only fragmentary pieces of a sauropod's body will actually become fossilized. Sadly, this also means that we don't really know much about this animal, so sorry for the short post.
Image credit: cisiopurple on DeviantArt
Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope everyone has had a safe and happy holiday season.
