Bruhathkayosaurus

Bruhathkayosaurus means "huge body lizard". This giant shook the Earth 70 million years ago in India. Bruhathkayosaurus may be the largest creature ever stepped on the Earth. Approaching 40 meters long and weighing 175-200 tons it was larger than its close relative Argentinosaurus.

When it was discovered, scientists classified this dinosaur as a theropod carnivore such as Tyrannosaurus. Several unpublished opinions in 1995 suggested that the remains belonged to the huge sauropod that was probably a titanosaurid.

According to the published description, the shin bone of Bruhathkayosaurus is 2 m long. This is 29 percent larger than the tibia of Argentinosaurus, which is only 1.55 m long. Comparing the bones in the upper forelimb gives a similar result. While the humerus of Bruhathkayosaurus is incomplete, it is extrapolated to have been 2.34 m long. This is 30 percent larger than the humerus of Argentinosaurus, which is 1.81 m long.

If the size estimates for Bruhathkayosaurus are accurate, the only other animal approaching its size would be the Blue Whale. Mature Blue Whales can reach 30 m in length, which is a little shorter than Bruhathkayosaurus, but the record-holder Blue Whale weighed in at 176 tons, which is probably heavier than Bruhathkayosaurus.

Among the dinosaurs, only another poorly known specimen may approach or exceed Bruhathkayosaurus in size. Edward Drinker Cope's Amphicoelias fragillimus would have been longer, reaching 56–62 m in length, but it was a slender diplodocid, weighing only 120 tons. However, the only bone recovered (a massive vertebra) is now missing, and only a description and drawing of the specimen remain.