Maraapunisaurus

Common card · No. 264926

Maraapunisaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of western North America. It contains one species, Maraapunisaurus fragillimus, which was originally named Amphicoelias fragillimus. It has sometimes been estimated to be the largest dinosaur specimen ever discovered. Based on surviving descriptions of a single fossil bone, scientists have produced numerous size estimates over the years; the largest estimate M. fragillimus to have been the longest known animal at 58 metres (190 ft) in length with a mass of 150 tonnes (150 long tons; 170 short tons). However, because the only fossil remains were lost at some point after being studied and described in the 1870s, evidence survived only in contemporary drawings and field notes. More recent studies have made a number of suggestions regarding the possibility of such an animal. One analysis of the surviving evidence, and the biological plausibility of such a large land animal, has suggested that the enormous...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Carpenter, Kenneth, CC BY-SA 4.0