The first dinosaur found in Antarctica belonged to a group that includes the largest animals to ever walk the planet, a new study has revealed.
The spine of an 82-million-year-old mammoth was discovered more than 40 years ago, but at the time, researchers assumed it came from an ancient marine reptile. Now a new study, published June 29 in the journal Acta Paleontologica Polonicahave revealed that it was actually a titanosaur – the group of long-necked sauropods that included the largest land animals on record.
“At first glance it appears to be an ordinary fossil, but as the first dinosaur fossil found on the continent it holds an important place in the history of Antarctic exploration,” said the study’s first author. Paul BarrettA paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London said in a statement.
While this fossil now holds the record for the first dinosaur fossil found in Antarctica, other dinosaur fossils were identified on the continent after its discovery, so it is not the only known Antarctic dinosaur. In fact, researchers have identified a variety of dinosaurs on Antarctica Another sauropod fossil Identified as a titanosaur in 2011.
The newly identified dinosaur was about 20 to 23 feet (6 to 7 meters) long. This is much smaller than the largest known titanosaurs, which could grow up to 123 feet (37.5 m) long. However, since the fossil is only a fragment of a vertebra, researchers are unable to determine what species the Antarctic titanosaur belonged to, and it is possible that it was only a juvenile when it died.
Mike Thomson, a British Antarctic Survey geologist, fossil found During an expedition to James Ross Island in 1985. The island, which has been the site of numerous dinosaur discoveries, lies south of the 600-mile-wide (965 kilometers) northeastern Antarctic Peninsula. drake passage Which separates South America from Antarctica.
Antarctica is known for its icy landscapes, but when titanosaurs roamed the Earth, the continent was still connected to South America and filled with temperate forests. According to one study, Antarctica’s dinosaurs lived so far south that they lived in constant twilight during the winter months. News article Published by the Natural History Museum.
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The authors of the new study identified the dinosaur using high-resolution CT scans, which helped them see inside the fossil. dating back Cretaceous period (143 million to 66 million years ago), titanosaurs lived in the last era of non-avian dinosaurs, before giant asteroid Invaded and wiped out the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico 66 million years ago.
The Antarctic titanosaur helps researchers better understand how dinosaurs spread across Earth’s southern continents, which at the time were united into a supercontinent called Gondwana. The presence of titanosaurs on Antarctica suggests that they may have used Antarctica to travel from what is now South America to New Zealand.
Other dinosaurs identified on Antarctica include small herbivores, armored ankylosaurs, and bipedal predators. ImprobatorWhich would have shared forests with the newly identified titanosaurs. While researchers are beginning to piece together Antarctica’s ancient ecosystem, they still have a lot to learn about the dinosaurs that lived there.
“It’s likely that many more dinosaurs will be discovered on the continent,” Barrett said. “As the ice retreats due to climate change, we may actually find more evidence of this past biodiversity.”
Paul M. Barrett, Philip D. Mannion, Samantha L. Beeston, Matthew C. LaManna, Brett Clark, Alejandro Otero, Jose P. O’Gorman, and Mark Evans (2026). A titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Antarctica. Acta Paleontologica Polonica 71(2), 2026: 349-362 doi:10.4202/app.01315.2025