Researchers have determined the "world's largest dinosaur," Dreadnoughtus, had a much smaller figure than we thought.
The new computer reconstructions of the dinosaur's mass suggest it most likely did not reach 132,300 pounds as was previously estimated, the University of Manchester reported.
"Estimating the body mass of an extinct animal from approximately 77 million years ago of this size from only its [fossilized] bones is extremely challenging and relies on the availability of certain data from living animals and [modeling] techniques," said lead author, Karl Bates from The University of Liverpool.
To make their findings, the researchers fit simple shapes into a digital model of the dinosaur's skeleton and calculated its volume. The volume was then converted into a body mass using data from the bodies of modern animals. The calculations suggested the dinosaur would have weighed only about 83,800 pounds. The past estimate of 132,300 pounds was reached using an equation based of the circumference of the dinosaur's leg bone, which was compared with measurements of modern four-legged animals.
"The original method used to calculate the mass of the animal is a common one and has been used successfully on many specimens. The highest estimates produced for this particular giant, however, didn't quite match up," said Peter Falkingham, from Liverpool John Moores University.
Dreadnoughtus was discovered in Patagonia in 2005 when researchers stumbled upon a skeleton that was almost 70 percent complete. It is believed to have walked the Earth about 77 million years ago, it measured in at 85 feet long.
"While Dreadnoughtus was clearly a huge animal, we don't think it would have grown to quite as big as the 60 tons originally claimed. Estimating the size of an animal from its bones necessarily means you have to theorise, but we think our figure fits much better with what we currently understand about the size and shape of modern land animals," said Charlotte Brassey from the Faculty of Life Sciences at The University of Manchester.
The findings were published in a recent edition of the journal Biology Letters.
