Scientists studying remains unearthed in Thailand say they have identified Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis, a long-necked herbivore estimated at about 27 tons and roughly 88 feet long—described as the largest dinosaur ever found in Southeast Asia.
The bones were pulled from the ground a decade ago in northeastern Thailand, but the excavation didn’t finish until 2024. Now, researchers say the fossils belong to a new giant sauropod they call Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis—so massive it may have carried the heft of nine adult Asian elephants.
In a study published in Scientific Reports, scientists estimate the long-necked herbivore stretched about 88 feet and weighed around 27 tons. They place its roaming life between 100 million and 120 million years ago, when the region was still dry land before later becoming a shallow sea.
Lead researcher Thitiwoot Sethapanichsakul described it as a dinosaur “big by most people’s standards. ” adding that it likely weighed at least 10 tons more than the famed Diplodocus “Dippy” displayed at London’s Natural History Museum.. The Thai Ph.D.. student who worked on the discovery also nicknamed the animal “the last titan. ” calling it a major find from one of the youngest dinosaur-bearing rock formations in Thailand.
The naming reflects both mythology and anatomy.. The species name honors a serpent-like figure found across Asian cultures—often connected with water and Buddhism in northeastern Thailand—paired with “titan. ” a term the authors link to giants in Greek mythology.. The researchers say the remains only partially matched previously known sauropods. but contained enough distinct traits to justify a new species.
The scale of the creature also changes how scientists picture its environment.. At the time Nagatitan lived. the ecosystem’s biggest predator was thought to be a relative of Carcharodontosaurus. measuring about 26 feet long and weighing roughly 3.5 tons.. Sethapanichsakul told Reuters that at its size. Nagatitan would have been “dwarfed. ” and that at full size it likely had “very little to fear in terms of predation.”
Nagatitan’s discovery is also being treated as part of a narrowing window for large sauropods in Southeast Asia.. In comments carried in the study. Sethapanichsakul said the dinosaur was found in a geological layer that formed a later stage of the region’s dinosaur record.. With the area later turning into a shallow sea. he said it may represent the last—or most recent—large sauropod the region will produce.
A life-size reconstruction of the animal is now on display at Bangkok’s Thainosaur Museum, according to University College London.. An earlier research haul from the same part of northeastern Thailand has already boosted attention on the region’s dinosaur diversity: in 2023. a skeleton from about 150 million years ago—Minimocursor phunoiensis—was described as “one of the best-preserved dinosaurs ever found in Southeast Asia.”
For Nagatitan. the wait from first find to completed excavation is a reminder that progress in paleontology can be slow even when the fossils are already out of the ground.. But now that the study is published. the title for Southeast Asia’s largest dinosaur shifts—with a new contender whose size. researchers say. was measured not just in feet and tons. but in the scale of elephants.
Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis Thailand dinosaur sauropod Scientific Reports paleontology Southeast Asia dinosaurs long-necked herbivore