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The largest animal on our planet is the blue whale. Its length can reach 33,5 m, and its weight is more than 140 tons. In ancient times, the Earth was inhabited by even larger animals, writes IFLScience.
Patagotitan is considered the largest animal of the Earth in the history of its existence. Only one species of this animal is known to modern science — Patagotitan mayorum. The length of the body of Patagotitan was 37 meters, and the weight was about 70 tons.
Patagotitan came from a genus of sauropod dinosaurs with long necks and tails. The most famous representatives of this genus are brontosaurus and diplodocus. Patagotitan mayorum owes its name to the Argentine region of Patagonia. Fossils, which allowed scientists to recreate the appearance of the largest animal on Earth, were discovered in the south of Argentina in 2017 in the amount of six units.
Patagotitans inhabited our planet 100 million years ago (Cretaceous period). They were herbivorous dinosaurs. The long neck allowed the animals to get the leaves of tall trees. According to scientists, excavations in Latin America were started by archaeologists much later than in the Northern Hemisphere. Thus, it is possible that fossils of larger dinosaurs than Patagotitan can be found on the continent.
