Overview
- Researchers formally named Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis in Scientific Reports, identifying the biggest long‑necked dinosaur yet found in Southeast Asia.
- Based on limb and spine bones, the team estimates a length of about 27 meters and a mass of roughly 25–28 tonnes, including a 1.78‑meter upper arm bone.
- The fossils came from northeastern Thailand’s Khok Kruat Formation in the Early Cretaceous, the country’s youngest rocks with dinosaur remains, which led the team to dub it the region’s “last titan.”
- Phylogenetic analysis classifies Nagatitan as a somphospondylan titanosauriform within Euhelopodidae, a placement that supports a mid‑Cretaceous shift toward larger body sizes in Asian sauropods.
- A local villager found the site near a pond in 2016, fieldwork paused for lack of funds, then resumed in 2024 with 3D scanning used to document bones for study and reconstruction.