Which dinosaurs were the biggest?

Everyone knows that dinosaurs were big, but how big were they? Most people think that the biggest of the lot were Tyrannosaurus Rex and Brachiosaurus, but they lost their biggest dinosaur titles years ago. The biggest dinosaurs that we know of so far actually come from Argentina!

Palaeontologists are scientists who study dinosaurs, and the biggest meat-eating dinosaur they have found is the giant mapusaurus. Mapusaurus is about 5 feet longer than T-Rex, and there is evidence that they might even have hunted in packs, just like wolves!

Their prey would have been the gigantic argentinosaurus. At about 130 feet long, argentinosaurus is the biggest plant eating dinosaur palaeontologists know about. It was a long-necked dinosaur, related to apatosaurus and brachiosaurus, but much bigger. In fact, many South American dinosaurs are bigger than their North American cousins like T-Rex!

Even though it’s not a dinosaur, Quetzalcoatlus deserves a mention too. A member of the pterosaur family, Quetzalcoatlus was the largest flying reptile that has ever lived on this planet. Its wingspan was about forty feet wide – that’s as long as a school bus!

Even though scientists think that argentinosaurus and mapusaurus are close to the upper limit of how big dinosaurs could get and still be able to move, it’s possible that there are still bigger dinosaurs waiting to be discovered. That’s one of the most exciting things about palaeontology: something is only the biggest until you discover the next one!