Dino card No. 0552 of 2,027

Duriatitan

Say it: dur-ee-ah-TIE-tan

Name means: “Dorset giant”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksLate Jurassic to Early Cretaceous

Duriatitan was a huge, long-necked plant-eater that stomped through what is now England about 150 million years ago. It is known from just one big arm bone, but that bone tells us it was a giant!1

Lived

155 to 137 million years ago4

Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Dorset, England, with possible remains in France, Portugal, and Spain1 4

Food

Plants4

Length

up to 25 m1

estimate by Thomas Holtz

Weight

up to 9.5 tonnes2

estimate, biggest known specimen

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 6 cars

as long as 6 cars parked in a rowas long as 140 bananas end to endas heavy as 1.5 elephantsas heavy as 1900 watermelons

How big was Duriatitan compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Duriatitan is only known from a single left upper arm bone, called a humerus.1

The bone was found near Sandsfoot, Weymouth in Dorset, England, by a man named R.I. Smith.1

It was first named in 1874 as a species of Cetiosaurus, and later given its own genus in 2010.1

The name Duriatitan comes from the Latin name for Dorset, Duria, and the Greek word Titan, meaning giant.1

Scientists think Duriatitan lived during the Late Jurassic, about 150 million years ago.1

It was a titanosauriform, a group of sauropods that includes some of the largest land animals ever.4

Thomas Holtz estimated Duriatitan could have been up to 25 meters (82 feet) long, as long as a blue whale.1

AI-made picture of Duriatitan — An AI-made picture of how Duriatitan might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Duriatitan

?How big was Duriatitan?

Duriatitan may have been up to 25 meters long, which is shorter than a 30 meter blue whale, though this is an estimate from one bone.1 3

?What did Duriatitan eat?

Duriatitan was a plant-eater, eating tough leaves from trees. Its huge body and long neck helped it reach food other dinosaurs couldn't.3

?Could Duriatitan swim?

Scientists once thought sauropods like Duriatitan lived in water, but now they think the opposite. Its air-filled bones and small feet would have made it float and be unstable in water.3

?When did Duriatitan live?

Duriatitan lived during the Late Jurassic, about 150 million years ago, in what is now England.1 4

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Duriatitan
Named by: Barrett et al. 20104
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Titanosauriformes4
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Macronaria4
Age of the rocks: 155 to 137 million years (Kimmeridgian / Berriasian)4
Rock formations: Kimmeridge Clay, Mont-Lambert, Praia da Amoreira-Porto Novo4
Countries: United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Spain4
Fossil records: 8 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: The first fossil, a partial left upper arm bone, was found by R.I. Smith near Sandsfoot, Weymouth in Dorset. It was described by John Hulke in 1874 as a species of Cetiosaurus, and later renamed Duriatitan by Paul Barrett, Roger Benson, and Paul Upchurch in 2010.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how big Duriatitan was, because only one arm bone has been found. The length estimate of 25 meters is just a guess.1

Where the facts come from

Duriatitan (en.wikipedia.org)
Duriatitan humerocristatus | Dinosaur Database by DinoAnimals.com (dinoanimals.com)
Britain's biggest Jurassic dinosaurs | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
Duriatitan in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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