Dreadnoughtus adult size

[Takama]

Is there any possibility that we can figure out the adult size of this Dinosaur?   I plan on making it a part of my line of Commissioned Dinosaurs, but i rather have mine to be a mature individual.

I read that it may had reached the same lengths as either Alamosaurus or Argentinasaurus.

[DinoLord]

The specimen found was likely no fully grown. However it's hard to estimate the adult size with more remains. In general titanosaur anatomy is more poorly known than that of other sauropods, so it becomes difficult to precisely estimate their size.

[triceratops83]

Why are Titanosaur remains so scarce? There's plenty of Morrison Formation Sauropods, and you'd think larger bones would survive long enough to be fossilised. Did Titanosaurs live in drier environments than Diplodocids?

[DinoLord]

Why are Titanosaur remains so scarce? There's plenty of Morrison Formation Sauropods, and you'd think larger bones would survive long enough to be fossilised. Did Titanosaurs live in drier environments than Diplodocids?

That's something I've pondered myself. While larger animals do tend to get preserved over small ones, it takes a lot more sediment and luck to have the right conditions for more of a large animal to be preserved before scavengers/decomposition get to it. Also the Morrison was mostly a floodplain, which seems to be one of the most conducive environments to fossilization.

[Takama]

I read in this book

http://www.amazon.com/Feathered-Dinosaurs-Origin-John-Long/dp/0195372662/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421289613&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=featherd+dinosaurs

It said that Eotyrannus MAY have grown to 8 meters.    I looked up the size of the holotype and was 4 meters, so that means that the baby was half the full size.   I looked up the Old Dreadfuls size and it came to 25 meters, so another 25 makes it 50 meters.  Dose this seem plausible?   I doubt it

[triceratops83]

While larger animals do tend to get preserved over small ones, it takes a lot more sediment and luck to have the right conditions for more of a large animal to be preserved before scavengers/decomposition get to it. Also the Morrison was mostly a floodplain, which seems to be one of the most conducive environments to fossilization.

I've read somewhere that the preservation bias for fossilization is animals around the ten metre mark. However, you'd still think that large titanosaur skeletons would for the most part remain intact. The principle scavengers big enough to demolish a sauropod carcase would have been Carnosaurs, and although they could have swallowed smaller bones they weren't equipped to crush bone. So yeah, maybe only fluvial environments could work for fossilization in extremely large animals. On that note too, I suppose the really big Hadrosaurs like Shantungosaurus and Magnapaulia were creatures that lived in areas likely to flood, so maybe Titanosaurs WERE more arid living animals. Anyone know what they ate? There must be coprolites or preserved stomach contents. That might give some indication of the environments in which they frequented.

[DinoLord]

I've read somewhere that the preservation bias for fossilization is animals around the ten metre mark. However, you'd still think that large titanosaur skeletons would for the most part remain intact. The principle scavengers big enough to demolish a sauropod carcase would have been Carnosaurs, and although they could have swallowed smaller bones they weren't equipped to crush bone. So yeah, maybe only fluvial environments could work for fossilization in extremely large animals. On that note too, I suppose the really big Hadrosaurs like Shantungosaurus and Magnapaulia were creatures that lived in areas likely to flood, so maybe Titanosaurs WERE more arid living animals. Anyone know what they ate? There must be coprolites or preserved stomach contents. That might give some indication of the environments in which they frequented.

Scavengers don't necessarily have to crush/ingest the bone to disturb a carcass - it could come down to them dragging off various bits and pieces. As for titanosaur coprolites, I think the most well-known example is that of the grasses found in some discovered in India. Although I would avoid generalizing - in extant animals closely related genera can have quite different habitats and niches.

One example I can think of that complicates things is Nemegtosaurus and Opisthocoelicaudia. Both are from the Nemegt Formation, which was an endorheic basin and has produced such well-preserved genera as Deinocheirus. Yet the former is only known from a skull and the latter only from post-cranial elements. I guess only time will reveal more about this enigmatic group of sauropods...

[triceratops83]

Good points Dinolord. And Takama, I probably wouldn't count on Dreadnoughtus being much bigger than 35 metres. Seems like a safe maximum.

[Saurian]

I hope that next year will  toy Dreadnoughtus, from Collecta has Argentinosaurus and coming   Daxiatitan 

[Dinoguy2]

Keep in mind that for animals to become fossils they have to be buried in sediment. It would take a LOT of sediment to completely bury a huge titanosaurian before the bones become scattered by erosion and scavengers.