Dinosaurs—Which are the biggest, longest, oldest?

3 days ago

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The Record-Breakers of the Dinosaur World

Dinosaurs—the real life monsters of the past—continue to fill us with a sense of wonder. They ruled Earth for over 160 million years, so it's no surprise they set some jaw-dropping records.

Here are the ten of the most extraordinary dinosaurs ever found:

Argentinosaurus
Patagotitan (restoration 2019 by User:Mariolanzas is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sauroposeiden Leví B. Martínez-Reza, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia

1. Argentinosaurus: The Biggest Dinosaur

This South American titan is often ranked the heaviest dinosaur, with estimates around 65 to 75 tonnes which is roughly the weight of a dozen elephants. Its fossils are incomplete, so scientists still debate its exact size.

2. Patagotitan: The Best-Measured Dinosaur

Stretching about 37 meters (120 feet), Patagotitan is the largest dinosaur known from reasonably complete remains. A cast of its skeleton has wowed museum visitors around the world.

3. Sauroposeidon: The Tallest Dinosaur

With a neck that may have lifted its head about 17 meters (55 feet) off the ground, Sauroposeidon could have peered into a sixth-floor window.

Spinosaurus
Tyrannosaurus rex-T rex
Giganotosaurus

4. Spinosaurus: The Biggest Predatory Dinosaur

At up to 14 meters long, Spinosaurus may have outsized even T. rex. Its sail, crocodile-like snout, and paddle-like tail suggest it spent much of its life hunting fish in rivers.

5. Tyrannosaurus rex: The Mightiest Bite

Few animals have matched T. rex for raw bite strength. Estimates run into tens of thousands of newtons, enough to crush bone. It was a true heavyweight predator, about 12 meters long and 8 tonnes.

6. Giganotosaurus: The Meanest Dinosaur

Living in Argentina some 30 million years before T. rex, Giganotosaurus may have hunted giant sauropods, possibly in groups. Its slicing teeth were built for deep, bleeding wounds rather than bone-crushing.

Therizinosaurus by: PaleoNeolitic, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Ankylosaur Nobu Tamura, CC BY 3.0
Eoraptor Gonce, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Anchiornis Bjoertvedt, CC BY-SA 4.0

7. Therizinosaurus: The Longest Claws of any Dinosaur

This bizarre, feathered plant-eater wielded hand claws up to a meter long. They look terrifying, but they were probably used to pull down branches, not to fight.

8. Ankylosaurus: The Most Heavily-Armored Dinosaur

Covered in bony plates and spikes, with a tail club that could swing hard enough to break a predator's leg, Ankylosaurus was a living tank.

9. Eoraptor: One of the Oldest Dinosaurs

Living around 231 million years ago, in what is now Argentina, this small, fast, human-sized dinosaur gives us a glimpse of how it all began. Nyasasaurus, from Tanzania, may be slightly older still, but its status is debated.

10. Anchiornis: One of the Smallest Dinosaurs

Weighing only a few hundred grams, about as much as a pigeon, this feathered dinosaur from China shows that not every dinosaur was a giant. Its relatives are closely related to the ancestors of modern birds.

Why the Dinosaur Records Keep Changing

Fossils are rare, and every new discovery can rewrite the record books. Many of these titles come with asterisks: size estimates are built from fragments, and "oldest" depends on what gets dug up next. Somewhere under a desert, badland, or mountainside, a bigger, taller, or meaner dinosaur may be waiting and you can help find them.