• Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis is the largest dinosaur discovered in Southeast Asia, measuring 27 meters long.
• The dinosaur likely weighed between 25 to 28 tons, roughly equivalent to nine adult Asian elephants.
• Fossils were uncovered in Chaiyaphum, Thailand, providing insights into ancient climates and ecosystem diversity.
• Research indicates that Nagatitan was a bulk browser, likely consuming vegetation with minimal chewing.
• This find is significant because it may reflect the last large sauropod species in the region before it became submerged.

Researchers have recently identified a new dinosaur species, Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis, which is recognized as the largest dinosaur discovered to date in Southeast Asia. This enormous plant-eating dinosaur measured about 27 meters (approximately 88 feet) long and weighed between 25 to 28 tons, comparable to nine adult Asian elephants. It belongs to the sauropod family, known for their long necks, tails, and massive sizes, and lived around 113 million years ago in the Cretaceous Period, according to Reuters, BBC, and Channel News Asia.

The fossils for Nagatitan were initially discovered by a local villager near a pond in Chaiyaphum province, Thailand, a decade ago, and subsequent excavations revealed its massive skeletal remains, including a front leg bone measuring 1.78 meters long. The new species is significant not just for its size but also for the insights it provides into the ecological conditions of its time, as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were rising, coinciding with elevated global temperatures, according to Reuters, BBC, and Channel News Asia.

The research, led by Thitiwoot Sethapanichsakul at University College London (UCL), suggests that Nagatitan was a bulk browser, primarily feeding on high volumes of vegetation like conifers and seed ferns with little chewing. This feeding strategy reflects the ecological demands of large herbivores in a subtropical climate rich with various other dinosaur species and predators, including a 26-foot relative of the Carcharodontosaurus, according to Reuters, BBC, and Channel News Asia.

This discovery is particularly poignant as researchers believe that Nagatitan may represent the last of the large sauropods in Southeast Asia. Due to geological changes, by the late Cretaceous period the region transitioned to underwater, making further discoveries of such dinosaurs unlikely. With Nagatitan marking the 14th dinosaur identified in Thailand, it highlights the country’s rich paleontological history and diversity, according to Reuters, BBC, and Channel News Asia.