back to article North America makes entry into dino fatty league

Seems like Americans have been fatties for longer than we thought. The heaviest creature to have walked on land lived in New Mexico circa the Late Cretaceous period, according to an article by Montana State Uni researchers. Until now Alamosaurus sanjuanensis was only thought to have lived in South America. But after …

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  1. Martin 47

    So Mother Nature tried sheer size with the reptiles and intelligence* with mammals. Wonder what she will try next if mammals don't make the grade? :-P

    *probably

    1. Ru
      Meh

      Biology fail

      The blue whale rather puts dinosaurs to shame, size-wise. There were a hell of a lot of small dinosaurs. Birds seem to be doing alright; they're neither reptiles nor mammals and do seem to have descended from dinosaurs. There are plenty of dumb mammals; it is adaptability that is the defining mammalian trait, I'd say. You also seem to have totally forgotten fish and insects. I could go on, but you have more than enough to revise for now.

      Still, nice try for sticking some notion of intelligent design in there. Overall though, must try harder.

  2. earl grey
    WTF?

    there's a contest for fattest dinosaur now?

    seriously, just find more bones and stop braggin' about how big yours is....

  3. fishman

    Junk Food

    "Denver also said that further studies were required to understand what sort of evolution allowed dinosaurs to become so big."

    Well, if you ever saw episodes of the Flintstones, you would know that they had junk food back in the time of the dinos. So that's why they're so fat.

  4. harris611

    Seems like Brits have had dingy crooked teeth longer than we thought.

    "Sauropods first discovered in Britain didn't have molars, they had peg shaped teeth which were used to snip and rake leaves off branches. Engineering tests such as FEA analyses have shown that the teeth were very weak and broke often hence the need for constant replacement"

    Signed,

    an irritatted non-fatty American

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  5. harris611

    cowards

    If you are going to insult 350 million people, you should have the courage to post a retort. Looks like you can dish it out, but can't take it. Typical.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      ooh, can't resist

      US population is ~313 million <http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html>. It just feels like 350 million.

      As for us brits and our brittle-toothed branch-raking habits, at least we know what salad is and that it doesn't come out of a tin.

      (nb No real offence intended. I love americans but paint a target a target on your arse and dare us, well, 'twould be rude not to...)

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Last stand...

    ... at the Alamo(saurus).

  7. This post has been deleted by its author

    1. Henry 4
      FAIL

      Ummm... No.

      There is no mention of tonnes in the article... Only tons and one ton = 917kg. Still feeling superior?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      A metric tonne

      An imperial ton is 20 cwt (hundredweight). A hundredweight is eight stones. So an Imperial Ton is 160 stones. A stone is 14 pounds. There are 16 ounces in a pound.

      A mile is 1760 yards ... blah blah ... all this I learned at my grandmother's knee. I remember an old friend of her's once asked me if I "can go digital" meaning could I translate old money (£.s.d) into decimal.

      How we lolled.

  8. Corporate Scum
    Headmaster

    I call a techical foul!

    In defense of my North American brethren, it is not really fair to lump us with the Titanosaurs, as during the cretaceous the super continent of Pangaea was just breaking up. North America, Asia and Europe were all still conjoined twins at this point, so your lot across the pond isn't off the hook either. Yep, I'm that guy. Commence the hail of tomatoes for the nitpicking armchair historian.

  9. Joe User
    Mushroom

    Better look in the mirror

    "Seems like Americans have been fatties for longer than we thought."

    So, the U.K.'s claim-to-fame is the hypocritasaurus?

    Obesity (most recent) by country

    http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_obe-health-obesity

    At #3 on the chart, you have no business calling the kettle "black".

    1. Ru
      Headmaster

      On percentages and absolute values

      The number of obese people in the United States exceeds the total population of the United Kingdom.

      Just thought I'd point that one out.

    2. CD001

      Welcome to the Internet; where the national online sport of England is Yank-baiting... well done, you managed to respond without exploding in a particularly entertaining and frothy fashion thus depriving us of the mirth that would otherwise have been induced when you "went off on one" in a semi-literate, deity-invoking fashion... spoilsport ;)

    3. Nick Thompson

      I'm glad they didn't miss the opportunity to include a "weighted average" on that graph :)

  10. Tim Roberts 1

    nice one!

    "Seems like Americans have been fatties for longer than we thought." When I read the header I was thinking just that.

  11. Killraven

    Pedantry

    Big =/= Fat

  12. Ginolard

    A new movie beckons

    Giraffatitan vs Megaoctopus!

  13. Armando 123

    Hm

    Sauropods have never been entirely cool the way T. Rex or triceratops are, but when you start looking at them from an engineering perspective, they are fascinating. How did they have enough blood pressure to get blood to those tiny brains? How can they possibly process enough food for those massive bodies? How can those necks be that strong yet light enough to hold the head up?

    I would love to see a (nearly) complete skeleton on one

  14. Gordo Rex

    So how big is that?

    When I first read the article I was less than impressed. Then I figured that the thing was over 17 KiloJubs. That is huge by any standard.

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