1. Biggest Sauropod: Argentinosaurus
Alain Beneteau
Although paleontologists claim to have found bigger dinosaurs, Argentinosaurus is the biggest sauropod
whose size has been backed up by convincing evidence. This gigantic
plant-muncher (named after Argentina, where its remains were found)
measured about 120 feet from head to tail and may have weighed over 100
tons. Just one vertebra of Argentinosaurus is over four feet thick! (Other, less-well-attested contenders for the "biggest sauropod" title include Futalognkosaurus, Bruhathkayosaurus and Amphicoelias.) More about Argentinosaurus
2. Biggest Sauropod (tie): Sauroposeidon
H. Kyoht Luterman
Named
after Poseidon, the Greek god of the ocean, Sauroposeidon was once
thought to be the biggest dinosaur of all time, but paleontologists have
since concluded that it was slightly lighter than Argentinosaurus,
"only" about 50 or 60 tons. However, Sauroposeidon was almost certainly
the tallest sauropod ever to roam the earth; its neck alone was almost
40 feet long! More about Sauroposeidon
3. Biggest Carnivore: Spinosaurus
Nobu Tamura
You probably thought the winner in this category would be T. Rex,
but it's now believed that Spinosaurus (which had a huge,
crocodile-like mouth and a sail of skin jutting up from its back) was
slightly heavier, weighing in at 7 or 8 tons. It's possible that this
dinosaur's famous sail evolved as a way of increasing its skin area, and
hence allowing it to cool down faster--yet more evidence that
Spinosaurus was the king of the meat-eaters. More about Spinosaurus
4. Biggest Pterosaur: Quetzalcoatlus
U.S. Government Services
Just
as Sauroposeidon is named after the Greek god of the ocean,
Quetzalcoatlus is named after the winged Aztec god Quetzalcoatl. This
gigantic pterosaur
had a wingspan of up to 45 feet, making it the largest creature ever to
fly, modern eagles included. That is, if Quetzalcoatlus really did fly:
new research hints that this giant pterosaur may have led a completely
landbound existence. More about Quetzalcoatlus
5. Biggest Pliosaur: Liopleurodon
Adam Stuart Smith
With its long, thick, tooth-studded jaws, bulky body, and massive flippers, this pliosaur
looked a bit like a cross between an orca and a shark. Paleontologists
believe Liopleurodon attained lengths of 40 to 50 feet, and may have
weighed 20 to 30 tons, about the dimensions of an adult sperm whale. If
this doesn't sound impressive, keep in mind that the biggest great white
sharks weigh about 3 tons, max. More about Liopleurodon
6. Biggest Hadrosaur: Shantungosaurus
Nobu Tamura
The hadrosaurs, or duck-billed dinosaurs, were the most common herbivores of the late Cretaceous
period. Recently discovered in China, Shantungosaurus was the biggest
hadrosaur yet known, about 50 feet long and anywhere from 15 to 50 tons
(the largest size ever achieved by an ornithischian, rather than saurischian,
dinosaur). Amazingly, this giant duckbill may have been capable of
running on two legs when escaping carnivores. (There's speculation that a
new Chinese hadrosaur, Zhuchengosaurus, may have been even bigger than Shantungosaurus!) More about Shantungosaurus
7. Biggest Raptor: Utahraptor
Wikimedia Commons
Velociraptor gets all the press these days, but this chicken-sized raptor
was positively puny next to Utahraptor, which weighed in at a whopping
1,500 pounds (and was a full 20 feet long). Oddly, Utahraptor lived a
few tens of millions of years before its more famous (and smaller)
cousins, a reversal of the general evolutionary rule that tiny
progenitors evolve into plus-sized descendants. More about Utahraptor
8. Biggest Therapsid: Moschops
Dmitri Bogdanov
The therapsids
("mammal-like reptiles") were a group of terrestrial reptiles that
preceded the dinosaurs. The ungainly Moschops, which ruled the forests
of Gondwana during the Permian
period, looked a bit like a cross between a cow and a frog, with its
blunt, bovine face and splay-footed, four-legged posture. This odd
creature may have reached lengths of up to 20 feet and weights of a few
tons, making it the biggest land animal of its time. More about Moschops
9. Biggest Crocodile: Sarcosuchus
Nobu Tamura
Better
known as "SuperCroc," the 40-foot-long Sarcosuchus weighed about 8
tons--about twice as long, and ten times as heavy, as the biggest
crocodiles alive today. Despite its enormous size, though, Sarcosuchus
appears to have led a typical crocodilian lifestyle, lurking in African rivers of the middle Cretaceous period and launching itself at any dinosaurs unlucky enough to draw too near. More about Sarcosuchus
10. Biggest Ichthyosaur: Shonisaurus
Nobu Tamura
The ichthyosaurs ("fish lizards") were a group of sleek, hydrodynamic, and often quite large aquatic reptiles that thrived from the late Triassic
to the middle Cretaceous periods. No ichthyosaur came bigger than the
50-foot-long, 30-ton Shonisaurus, which looked like a cross between a
blue whale and a dolphin. Oddly enough, Shonisaurus is the official
state fossil of land-locked Nevada, which was partially submerged in
water in prehistoric times. More about Shonisaurus
More About Dinosaurs
More About Dinosaur Types
More About Dinosaur Types
- Pterosaurs - The Flying Reptiles
- Hadrosaurs - The Duck-Billed Dinosaurs
- Ichthyosaurs - The "Fish Lizards"
from: http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/typesofdinosaurs/tp/Five-Biggest-Dinosaurs.htm
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