These dinos dwarfed modern animals. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most enormous dinosaurs in history, taking into account overall weight, length, stature, and also how cool they are!
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00:00What is that?
00:02Giganotosaurus.
00:06Biggest carnivore the world has ever seen.
00:08Welcome to WatchMojo
00:10and today we're counting down our picks
00:12for the most enormous dinosaurs
00:14in history, taking into account
00:16overall weight, length, stature
00:18and also how cool they are.
00:20It's only in recent years
00:22that we have unearthed the biggest dinosaurs
00:24that ever lived.
00:26Number 20.
00:28Mapusaurus. After a bone bed
00:30was discovered in Argentina in the late
00:3220th century, the Argentinian-Canadian
00:34dinosaur project carried out
00:36an excavation. One of the fossils that was
00:38excavated, belonging to Mapusaurus,
00:40became considered the longest fibula
00:42bone of any meat-eating dinosaur.
00:44It was clear that giant predators
00:46roamed South America as well.
00:48Mapusaurus was classified
00:50as a carnivorous theropod.
00:52Members of the Theropoda clade had
00:54hollow bones and three toes
00:56and claws on each limb. Mapusaurus,
00:58relative to other theropods,
01:00was huge. It is estimated to have measured
01:02up to 36 to 40 feet long
01:04with a weight of up to around 11,000
01:06pounds. Besides being big,
01:08evidence suggests they hunted
01:10in packs. A giant killer
01:12that appears to hunt in gangs
01:18and more than capable of taking on
01:20the very biggest dinosaurs.
01:22So not only did they outsize many dinosaurs,
01:24they outnumbered them as well.
01:26Number 19. Triceratops.
01:28This three-horned herbivore
01:30reached 26 to 30 feet in length
01:32and weighed between 13,200
01:34and 26,400
01:36pounds.
01:38Many different species of dinosaur
01:40live in forests.
01:44Triceratops.
01:46One of the biggest
01:48in North America.
01:50In addition to that, Triceratops had
01:52an enormous head that could reach
01:54nearly one-third of its total body length.
01:56Notably, hundreds of
01:58Triceratops skulls have been discovered
02:00and later analyzed by paleontologists.
02:02The largest of these known to date
02:04is the MWC 7584,
02:06which was estimated
02:08to have measured 8.2 feet long
02:10when fully intact. That's over
02:12half a foot more than the height
02:14of the tallest ever NBA player.
02:16The horns on that big head were sizable
02:18as well, approximately 3.3
02:20feet long. Based on research,
02:22the Triceratops may have utilized them
02:24in combat, including against
02:26the mighty T-Rex.
02:38Number 18.
02:40Supersaurus. There's a reason its name
02:42translates to Super Lizard.
02:44Two discoveries of Supersaurus remains
02:46in particular have helped paleontologists
02:48just gather a sense of their substantial
02:50size. One of these includes the big fella
02:52known as Jimbo at Wyoming
02:54Dinosaur Center. Wyoming Dinosaur
02:56Center's most massive occupant
02:58is Jimbo, a
03:00Supersaurus discovered near Douglas, Wyoming.
03:02Due to its unthinkable length
03:04of 106 feet, Jimbo
03:06the Supersaurus spans across
03:08basically the entire main exhibit hall.
03:10One estimate based on other
03:12Supersaurus remains suggests the species
03:14could reach 128
03:16feet in length. Jimbo himself is
03:18only about 50% complete.
03:20What you see on
03:22display up here is actually
03:24just a replica.
03:26It's not real bone. In terms of
03:28mass, Supersaurus likely could have
03:30weighed within a range of 78 to
03:3288,000 pounds. When it
03:34comes to its formidable physical presence,
03:36it truly was a Super
03:38Lizard. Number 17.
03:40Giraffatitan. After having
03:42previously been considered a Brachiosaurus
03:44by some paleontologists,
03:46subsequent research of various dinosaur bones
03:48suggests there was a distinct species called
03:50Giraffatitan. This
03:52sauropod is in the Guinness World Records
03:54as it was named the tallest mounted
03:56dinosaur skeleton in the world.
03:58It can be found at Berlin's Natural
04:00History Museum. Although reconstructed,
04:0265% of the skeleton
04:04bones are original. Based on
04:06research of the largest known specimen,
04:08Giraffatitan could have reached approximately
04:1052 feet in total height.
04:12Its remarkably long neck
04:14is a major reason for that, hence the
04:16giraffe in Giraffatitan.
04:18Mass-wise, it could have weighed between
04:2088 and 106,000 pounds.
04:22Number 16. Diplodocus.
04:24Originally, the length
04:26of this plant-eating sauropod was estimated
04:28to reach up to 171
04:30feet long, although more recent
04:32and revised studies say that that
04:34was a stretch. Still, Diplodocus
04:36was indeed immense, likely
04:38ranging somewhere between 85 and
04:40110 feet long.
04:42She is one of a great family of dinosaurs
04:44called the sauropods that
04:46dominate this period in Earth's history.
04:48They are the largest
04:50animals that will ever
04:52walk the planet. One
04:54famous specimen of the genus,
04:56befittingly called Dippy, is
04:58located at Carnegie Museum of Natural
05:00History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
05:02Its length is measured to 95 feet
05:04and it weighed an estimated 50,000
05:06pounds. However, when it comes to
05:08Diplodocus species as a whole, there have been
05:10varying findings regarding weight.
05:12Either way, this relatively well-studied dinosaur
05:14is one of the longest dinosaurs
05:16ever documented, and it had one of the
05:18longest tails ever, reaching
05:2043 to 45 feet.
05:22Saved by the huge tail of a larger
05:24Diplodocus. Number 15.
05:26Pheudelonchosaurus. With a name
05:28meaning giant chief lizard,
05:30Pheudelonchosaurus was just that,
05:32giant. While originally estimated
05:34at a length eclipsing 100 feet,
05:36more recent estimates have ranged
05:38between 79 and 98 feet.
05:40In terms of weight, there have been a wide
05:42range of calculations. Most
05:44noteworthy research places Pheudelonchosaurus
05:46between 66,000 pounds
05:48and 110,000 pounds.
05:50One fascinating discovery
05:52of this long-necked species is that it had
05:54massive hips with a width of almost
05:5610 feet. The amount of physical
05:58evidence of this monumental creature is
06:00impressive as well. After unearthing
06:02Pheudelonchosaurus fossils in Argentina
06:04in 2000, researchers called
06:06it, quote, the most complete giant
06:08dinosaur known so far.
06:10Number 14. Turiasaurus.
06:12After groundbreaking excavations
06:14were made east of the Spanish capital of
06:16Madrid, Turiasaurus became known
06:18as the largest dinosaur ever found
06:20in Europe. Studies indicate that
06:22it reached between 69 and 98 feet
06:24in length and between 66 and
06:26110,000 pounds in mass.
06:28Original estimates suggested this
06:30gigantic sauropod could have possibly
06:32reached 120 feet in length
06:34and it's no surprise that its bones
06:36were huge as well. At the time of its 2004
06:38discovery, the humerus belonging
06:40to Turiasaurus was one of the biggest
06:42ever recorded, close to 6 feet
06:44in length. If that's taller than your entire
06:46human body frame, you're not alone.
06:48Number 13. Shantungosaurus.
06:50Members of the Hadrosaurid
06:52family of dinosaurs were known
06:54for their duck-like bills and
06:56Shantungosaurus, which was discovered in
06:58China, was the largest such
07:00known species. Magnopolia
07:02was another huge, cool-looking
07:04Hadrosaurid, but evidence suggests
07:06it wasn't quite as big as
07:08Shantungosaurus. Besides its robust
07:10build, weighing around 28 to
07:1236,000 pounds and measuring
07:14between 48 and 54 feet,
07:16Shantungosaurus also had
07:18extremely potent jaws.
07:20The big mouth of the flat-headed
07:22dinosaur housed approximately
07:241,500 teeth. This giant
07:26also had a heavy tail and lengthy
07:28brawny legs. A composite
07:30skeleton can be found inside the Chinese
07:32Academy of Geological Sciences
07:34in Beijing. Number 12.
07:36Brachiosaurus. Thanks in
07:38part to its disproportionately long neck,
07:40Brachiosaurus could conveniently
07:42reach leaves to satisfy its hunger.
07:44This is Brachiosaurus,
07:46a 13-meter high
07:48sauropod that specializes
07:50in grazing on the treetops.
07:52In terms of total length, Brachiosaurus
07:54has been estimated to reach between
07:5659 and 72 feet.
07:58A 1900 finding in
08:00Colorado helped spark extensive research
08:02leading to significant conclusions
08:04about the genus. 12,500
08:06pounds of Brachiosaurus
08:08fossils were transported as part of that
08:10groundbreaking expedition. These adults
08:12weigh over 70 tons.
08:14Astoundingly, just its heart
08:16was estimated to have weighed several
08:18hundred pounds. Brachiosaurus,
08:20which makes an appearance in Jurassic Park,
08:22likely weighed between a total of
08:2462 and 104,000 pounds
08:26according to several studies.
08:28Number 11. Puertasaurus.
08:30Despite the fact that very few
08:32Puertasaurus fossils have been found, many
08:34scientists believe it was one of the largest
08:36dinosaurs in existence. One
08:38respected estimate suggests the specimen
08:40could have reached 98 feet in length.
08:42In terms of weight, most paleontologists
08:44believe that Puertasaurus likely reached
08:46over 100,000 pounds.
08:48However, once again, the evidence for this
08:50dinosaur's gigantic nature is lacking
08:52compared to some other dinosaur species.
08:54In fact, the information is derived from
08:56a scant four bones that belong
08:58to a single Puertasaurus.
09:00Still, the research tends to point to the likelihood
09:02that Puertasaurus was one of the
09:04most enormous dinosaurs to ever roam
09:06the planet. Number 10.
09:08Sauroposeidon. In a 1994
09:10finding, large fossils
09:12analyzed by a group of scientists
09:14struck them as too big to
09:16belong to an animal. Thus, they
09:18initially hypothesized that they were tree
09:20trunks. However, they turned out
09:22to be the bones belonging to the mighty
09:24Sauroposeidon. Also known as the
09:26lizard earthquake god,
09:28it's believed that Sauroposeidon was so
09:30large that its steps could make the
09:32ground shake. It towered above
09:34its surroundings. With its neck extended,
09:36scientific analysis suggests
09:38it was able to reach 54 to
09:4059 feet above the ground.
09:42That would make it one of the tallest dinosaurs
09:44ever. Moreover, paleontologists
09:46estimates slot Sauroposeidon
09:48between 89 and 112
09:50feet long and in the range of 88
09:52to 132,000 pounds.
09:54Number 9.
09:56Gigantoraptor. Utahraptor
09:58warrants a mention here as it is the largest
10:00raptor to have ever existed.
10:02But we're giving the nod to Gigantoraptor,
10:04a larger bird-like dinosaur
10:06from the Oviraptosaur family.
10:08It's estimated to have been more than
10:1016 feet tall and weigh over
10:124,000 pounds. Gigantoraptor
10:14was discovered in 2007
10:16in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia.
10:20The sheer size of the bones revealed
10:22it was unlike anything found before.
10:248
10:26meters long and weighing around 1.5
10:28tons. Based on those
10:30measurements, one might assume that this big
10:32creature wreaked havoc on its fellow
10:34dinosaurs, but this may not have been the case
10:36as a fossil of its jaw revealed that it
10:38actually had no teeth.
10:40Since its initial discovery
10:42in 2001, the Gigantoraptor
10:44has raised more questions than it has
10:46answered, but we can say one thing
10:48with certainty. It's the biggest known
10:50bird-like dino discovered so far
10:52in history.
10:54Number 8. Titanoceratops.
10:56Another massive dinosaur that lived
10:58during the late Cretaceous period,
11:00the Titanoceratops is one of the biggest
11:02horned dinosaurs ever.
11:04This beast weighed approximately
11:0615,000 pounds.
11:08and measured roughly 22.3 feet
11:10from head to tail. Adding to both
11:12was its massive 8-foot head.
11:14Although it isn't known for sure,
11:16it is likely that this massive head
11:18helped make males more attractive to
11:20females. You know what they say about
11:22a male Titanoceratops with a big
11:24head, don't you? No?
11:26Us neither. But we do know that
11:28with its discovery, the Titanoceratops
11:30also claimed the title of oldest
11:32Triceratopsini.
11:34Number 7. Triceratops.
11:36Although it is no longer considered
11:38to be the world's biggest carnivore,
11:40the T-Rex remains one of the biggest
11:42theropods and apex land predators
11:44ever, which makes it still
11:46the king of the dinosaurs in the eyes of many people.
11:48Tyrannosaurus Rex.
11:50An animal
11:52to spark the imagination
11:54for all of us.
11:56While sizes vary, the T-Rex
11:58could reach up to 40 feet in length
12:00and a height of approximately 12 feet
12:02with the largest head being
12:04weighing roughly 30,000 pounds.
12:06One of the most fearsome predators
12:08to ever live, the T-Rex also
12:10scavenged when the opportunity presented itself.
12:12T-Rex has the most
12:14powerful jaws in nature
12:18and can bite with the force
12:20of over 5 tons.
12:22Due to its popularity, it is
12:24one of the few dinosaurs that the public
12:26refers to by its proper scientific name.
12:28Number 6. Paralatitan.
12:30Little is known about
12:32this dinosaur due to limited fossils,
12:34but based on the size of its humerus,
12:36Paralatitan was by far
12:38one of the biggest sauropods
12:40to ever walk the earth.
12:42This is Paralatitan,
12:44a 45 ton animal
12:48and the undisputed heavyweight here.
12:50This behemoth was roughly
12:5285 feet long and weighed
12:54over 110,000 pounds.
12:56And yet, we would still be ignorant
12:58of its existence were it not for
13:00a fortunate mistake.
13:02Paralatitan's discovery was announced
13:04in 2001 after a grad student
13:06named Joshua Smith and his team
13:08got lost during a 1999
13:10area survey. Despite its
13:12enormous size, this herbivore
13:14was likely hunted by large predatory
13:16dinosaurs, though taking it down
13:18would have been no small feat
13:20unless a group of predators worked together.
13:22A predator always looks
13:24for the easiest kill,
13:26the weak, injured, or young.
13:28Number 5.
13:30Giganotosaurus.
13:32With a name like Giganotosaurus,
13:34you know this dinosaur is worthy of
13:36a spot on today's list.
13:38Etymologically speaking, the name is inspired by
13:40ancient Greek and translates to
13:42Giant Southern Lizard.
13:44Another monster to live during the Late Cretaceous
13:46period, its exact size has been
13:48difficult to determine, although estimates
13:50believe that it weighed up to 26,000
13:52pounds and may have been over
13:5440 feet long, making it
13:56bigger on average than the T-Rex.
14:04It could also reach speeds of up to 30 miles
14:06per hour, which is truly remarkable
14:08when you consider its size.
14:10Number 4. Dreadnoughtus.
14:12Discovered in Argentina in 2005,
14:14it took paleontologists
14:16four summers to excavate the Dreadnoughtus'
14:18remains, thanks in part to the remote
14:20location but also because of its enormous
14:22size.
14:26It is likely that this
14:30dinosaur weighed about 130,000
14:32pounds, making it heavier
14:34than four T-Rexes combined.
14:36It was also over 85 feet
14:38long. Although it isn't the biggest
14:40dinosaur to ever live, it has been called
14:42the terrestrial creature with the largest
14:44known mass.
14:52Furthermore, the actual skeleton
14:54of Dreadnoughtus is one of the most complete
14:56dinosaur skeletons of its kind
14:58to ever be found. Talk about a
15:00massive find!
15:02Number 3. Spinosaurus.
15:04It's hard to imagine a dinosaur that
15:06is both bigger and more vicious
15:08than the T-Rex, but that's exactly
15:10what we have with the Spinosaurus.
15:24Estimates have the Spinosaurus weighing
15:26up to 40,000 pounds and reaching
15:28up to nearly 60 feet in length.
15:30Evidence suggests that this dinosaur
15:32lived both on land and in the water
15:34and may have even targeted the
15:36Sarcosuchus, an extinct, ancient
15:38and giant crocodile-like reptile.
15:44The Spinosaurus even briefly
15:46stole the spotlight from the T-Rex
15:48when it served as the main villain in
15:50the third Jurassic Park film.
15:52Number 2. Patagotitan.
15:54Paleontologists estimate that
15:56Patagotitan, which was found in Patagonia,
15:58Argentina, reached somewhere
16:00between 102 and 131
16:02feet in length.
16:04This titanosaur is a really huge animal.
16:06It's over 120
16:08feet long. The titan aspect
16:10of the name alludes to its extraordinarily
16:12great strength and size.
16:14On display at the American Museum of Natural
16:16History is a 122-foot
16:18model of Patagotitan
16:20based on an impressively extensive collection
16:22of 84 fossil pieces.
16:24In terms of weight, researchers have estimated
16:26that this particular specimen,
16:28which wasn't even done growing,
16:30weighed over 140,000 pounds.
16:32Relatively speaking, the
16:34completeness of Patagotitan's fossil
16:36remains exceeds the level of many
16:38other similarly long-necked dinosaurs.
16:40With that in mind, scientific
16:42analysis firmly points to the strong
16:44likelihood that Patagotitan was
16:46indeed one of the very largest
16:48dinosaurs ever, if not the largest.
16:50Patagotitan is one of the
16:52most complete of those, so many of
16:54the other giant titanosaurs we only know
16:56from relatively fragmentary evidence,
16:58so a couple of bones here or there, but
17:00for Patagotitan, they found over 280
17:02bones at the site.
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17:20Number 1. Argentinosaurus
17:22We looked at a number of different factors
17:24when putting together this list, but the
17:26top spot could only ever go to one
17:28creature, the biggest dinosaur believed
17:30to have ever lived, the Argentinosaurus.
17:32From the bones that were
17:34found, we've calculated that
17:36Argentinosaurus was a colossal
17:3835 meters long
17:40and weighed as much as 75
17:42times. Scientific estimates
17:44suggest that the Argentinosaurus
17:46weighed up to 200,000 pounds
17:48and was over 115 feet
17:50long. To put this beast into perspective,
17:52consider that one of the dinosaur's
17:54vertebrae was over 5 feet
17:56tall. It also laid eggs
17:58comparable in size to an American
18:00football. When born, the hatchlings
18:02themselves weigh a paltry
18:045 kilograms
18:06and need to fend for themselves
18:08immediately. Luckily
18:10for all other dinosaurs, the Argentinosaurus
18:12was an herbivore,
18:14although we can only imagine how
18:16much vegetation it needed to eat
18:18to survive. Let us know in the comments
18:20what your favorite dinosaur is.
18:42Thanks for watching!