The 10 Biggest Dinosaurs That Ever Lived On Planet Earth

The biggest dinosaurs used to rule Earth thousands of years ago. Surprisingly, not many people knew of their existence until the 19th century when the remains of a ‘big lizard’ have been found.

Since then, there have been numerous dinosaurs found around the world and most of them impress with their size and characteristics. Can you name a few of them?

10. Shingopana Songwensis

Found in Tanzania, this type of dinosaur is also called the Tanzanian dinosaur. With a length of 26 feet, it’s estimated this big dinosaur weighed around 5 tones. It’s also one of the newly-discovered species. It was in 2002 that part of its skeleton was first found.

The archeological process lasted a few more years until all parts of its skeleton saw the light of day. While it wasn’t found in great condition, the dinosaur remains were put back together. It was officially named in 2017.

9. Saltasaurus

The Saltasaurus is one of the dinosaurs that has also been recently discovered. Found in Salta, a city in Argentina, this dinosaur is estimated to have had a weight of around 7 tons and a length of around 40 feet. At first, those who found the dinosaur had a difficult time establishing its type.

Many believed it to be ferocious. But this type of big dinosaur had a type of body armor called osteoderms. These osteoderms prevented enemy attacks as they acted as a shield for the dinosaur.

8. Austroposeidon magnificus

This dinosaur is estimated to have lived 84 million years ago. It has a very interesting history as paleontologists weren’t sure if it was a new big dinosaur species. It wasn’t found in a remote village but on the outskirts of Sao Paolo in Brazil.

Parts of its vertebrae and other bones sat in a museum for decades. It was only when the museum received a dedicated team with good funding that they had the resources to study this dinosaur further. It is estimated that the uncovered dinosaur had a length of over 82 feet.

7. Rapetosaurus

This type of dinosaur was found by accident in 1998. It was the discovery of a juvenile and an adult dinosaur that prompted paleontologists to draw the main profile of the species.

They were stuck at writing a dinosaur profile based on the poor condition of the adult dinosaur. The juvenile dinosaur was found in a good condition, however. It is believed an adult Rapetosaurus would have grown to a length of 49 feet.

6. Deinocheirus

This type of dinosaur is believed to have lived around 100 million years ago. It has been living around Asia before the comet that wiped out dinosaurs hit Earth. The dinosaur has 8-inch claws and large teeth. Scientists believed the dinosaur was an omnivore.

Typical foods consumed by it included fish and plants. But it could have eaten multiple other small animals encountered throughout the day. The distinct look of the dinosaur is also what inspired its Terrible Hands’ name (direct translation from old Greek).

5. Giganotosaurus

This species has long been believed to be the largest meat-eating dinosaur on Earth. Since its discovery, other larger dinosaurs have also been found. But one of the biggest shocks to paleontologists and archeologists was its size. It’s believed a Gigantosaurus weighed more than 15 tons.

But its size was often an impediment. With a high weight and a length of over 41 feet, this dinosaur wasn’t the fastest in Argentina. It’s believed this dinosaur struggled to maintain balance when running at high speed.

4. Spinosaurus

This dinosaur is believed to have lived in water most of the time. This is why it has developed a 7-foot long spine that also acted as a fin. It was one of the largest animals of its type and fish might have been part of its diet.

Living in North America over 90 million years ago, this dinosaur was a true beast. It had a weight estimated at 22 tons which makes it one of the heavyweight champions of the list.

3. Argentinosaurus

Argentinosaurus was one of the largest dinosaurs to have been discovered with a length of up to 141 feet. But its discovery story is even more interesting. As its name suggests, it has been found in Argentina.

But how many farmers can attest to finding a dinosaur on their property? This is the story of Argentinosaurus who’s part of a skeleton was discovered by a farmer.

At first, this farmer thought it was some type of petrified wood but it turned out it was Argentinosaurus. It’s a shame that a complete skeleton of Argentinosaurus hasn’t yet been found, however.

2. Paralititan

Believed to have lived in the Cretaceous Period, the Parlititan dinosaur was another large species that are yet to be fully explored. Its remains have first been found a couple of hours away from Cairo.

A 5.5-foot femur and shoulder blades form the dinosaur have been found and they were sufficient pieces to the puzzle so that archeologists could have recreated it in 3D.

This type of Cairo dinosaur weighed anywhere between 66 and 83 tons.

1. Patagotitan Mayorum

Up to 2017, the Patagotitan Mayorum was renamed after its initial 2014 name of Titanosaur. A large tailbone with a length of 8 feet has been attributed to this dinosaur and it has been believed to be the biggest dinosaur at the moment of its discovery.

While a full Patagotitan skeleton was never found, the bones found up to this moment attest it can be one of the largest dinosaurs to have ever live on Earth. With a length of over 120 feet, it could have easily been a dinosaur taller than trees.

Its weight is now estimated to have been around 77 tons. This makes it one of the heaviest dinosaurs and one that could have easily made a lot of damage with its large body.

Based on its fossilized bones, the Patagonian dinosaur is still a new species. It has only been a few years since its discovery and most scientists are curious to find more skeletons to see the maximum size of such a dinosaur.