An expert opinion

Dean Lomax is a multi award-winning palaeontologist, science communicator, TV presenter and author of Dinosaurs of the British Isles

How important is this discovery for the field of palaeontology?

Every new fossil find is important as it helps to add a tiny piece to a gigantic prehistoric jigsaw puzzle. The discovery of [the] patagotitan is important in furthering our knowledge of gigantic dinosaurs and the diversity of the group (Titanosauria) it belongs to. The patagotitan is one of the most complete giant dinosaurs known, which helps to ‘fill in’ the missing pieces of what was previously unknown in other giant Titanosaurs.

For such a huge giant, how much did it need to eat?

In order to maintain it’s huge size — [around] 70 tons — the patagotitan would need to have been eating constantly. Of course, it’s difficult to put any accurate estimate for the amount of vegetation required, but it would certainly have been a huge amount.

What can the evidence of multiple patagotitans tell us?

At least six individual patagotitan specimens were found in the same quarry, although some were found at slightly higher levels, and it is thought that they perished in three different burial events. Clearly it shows that some of these individuals of different size must have been living together in herds.

Why is the name of a new dinosaur species so important?

This is the foundation of palaeontology. The fossil record is very incomplete, especially when we consider that only a tiny percentage of all animals that once lived on the planet have been found as fossils. So describing new species and working out where they fit on the tree of life is important in understanding their place in the history of life in deep time.