Argentinosaurus

Argentinosaurus was a titanosaur dinosaur, the last group of the sauropod dinosaurs that were also the most physically imposing.

One of the biggest members of this great family (though some, like Seismosaurus, were even larger), Argentinosaurus grew up to 35 metres(115 ft) in length, making it bigger than even its relatives, such as Alamosaurus and Saltasaurus. This great size ensured that mature Argentinosaurs have no predators, except for such dinosaurs as giganotosaurus and the giant prehistoric crocodilian sarcosuchus. Consequently, juveniles tended in travel together with the adults, to ensure that the latter would intimidate the predators and make the juveniles less vulnerable. However, every herd had its strugglers, who were the most likely to get eaten.

Argentinosaurs were among the largest species of sauropod dinosaurs ever found in their time. Every year, herds of dozens of these dinosaurs visited lakes to lay their eggs. The shores on the edge of the lakes were the perfect nursery for them.

Their eggs could give you a good idea of what these huge animals hatch out from - quite small beginnings. The full egg was about the size of a football. Females came to lakes year after year because it is a perfect place for them to lay their eggs. Even at three or four years of age, young Argentinosaurs stayed around the nesting area: there must be good food for them as they were still too young to travel with herds.

If they survived, they grew-up to be large adults, growing 60 times in weight. Paleontologists think that Argentinosaurus was the heaviest creature over to walk on land, weighing at 75-92 tons, more then 30 African Elephants. It is then possible that, if it lived long enough, the largest of these titanosaurs could have weighed in at 100 tons.

In its own right, Argentinosaurus was a herbivore that fed in the treetops with its great size and long neck that also allowed it to avoid competition with smaller herbivores, such as the local species of iguanodon.

Land of the giants
Argentinosaurus was featured in the first episode of Chased by Dinosaurs, "Land of the Giants".