Megasaurus dreadnought found as described in Scientific American and ScienceShots 4 September 2014, and ABC News 5 September 2014 and Scientific Reports doi: 10.1038/srep06196 4 September 2014. Palaeontologists have studied the fossils of a truly gigantic dinosaur found in Argentina, and have given it the name Dreadnoughtus schrani. Matt Lamanna of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, explained the name: “We decided on Dreadnoughtus, meaning ‘fearer of nothing’, because when you’re as big as this thing was, you’re probably not afraid of too much”.
The dinosaur was a long necked sauropod, similar to Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus. The researchers estimate the animal was 26 meters (85 ft) long and weighed about 59 metric tons. According to ScienceShots this makes it “twice as long as Tyrannosaurus rex and as heavy as a herd of elephants”.
Two partial skeletons were found, one slightly larger than the other. After studying the microscopic structure of the bones the scientists concluded that the larger one was still growing when it died.
The fossils were found in Cerro Fortaleza Formation, approximately 350m below the top of the formation, and are dated as Late Cretaceous, between 84 and 66 million years old. Kenneth Lacovara of Drexel University in Philadelphia explained: “It appears that both individuals died and were buried rapidly after a river flooded and broke through its natural levee, turning the ground into a soupy mixture of sand, mud and water”.
ABC, Scientific American, ScienceShots
Editorial Comment: Wow! Twenty six metres long (85’) and still growing. This sound preposterous, but we know that many modern reptiles can keep growing throughout their lives provided they live in a good climate, with good food, and are not ill or stressed. Therefore, if Dreadnoughtus lived in such good conditions for a long time they could grow very large. Those were the conditions that would have existed in the original very good world God made. We are also told that before Noah’s flood human beings lived very long lifespans, so it is feasible that animals had equally long lives, which would mean that any animals capable of continuous growth, even at a slow rate, could reach enormous sizes if they lived ‘as long as Methuselah’, 969 years. It is possible that this dinosaur is not only the biggest, but also the oldest.
We agree with the researchers that these dinosaurs were rapidly buried, but it would take more than a river bursting its banks to both drown and bury 26 metre long monsters. A much larger, far more catastrophic flood is required for that. Furthermore, other enormous dinosaurs, such as Titanosaurs and Argentinosaurus are also found in Argentina. A flood the size of Noah’s is much better explanation for these dinosaur fossils in Argentina. Note also the biggest Blue Whale is 27 metres long, so blue whales still are the biggest creature. (Ref. dinosaurs, catastrophe, growth, giants)
Evidence News vol. 14, No. 16
1 October 2014
Creation Research Australia