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Thailand's 'Last Titan' Identified as Southeast Asia's Largest Sauropod

The peer-reviewed study places the giant in an Asian lineage, signaling few younger fossils likely remain.

Overview

  • Researchers have formally described Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis in Scientific Reports, naming a new long‑necked herbivore from northeastern Thailand.
  • The team estimates the animal weighed about 27 tonnes and measured roughly 27 meters, the largest dinosaur documented in Southeast Asia.
  • Scientists assign it to Euhelopodidae, an Asian group of long‑necked dinosaurs, based on distinctive features in its spine, pelvis, and legs.
  • Locals found the first bones in Chaiyaphum in 2016, work paused in 2020 when funds ran out, and a 2023 National Geographic grant enabled the study to conclude.
  • The fossils come from Thailand’s youngest dinosaur‑bearing rocks, leading authors to call it the country’s “last titan,” while a life‑size model now draws visitors at Bangkok’s Thainosaur Museum.