Name:
Paralititan (Greek for "tidal giant"); pronounced pah-RA-lih-TIE-tan
Habitat:
Swamps of northern Africa
Historical Period:
Middle Cretaceous (95 million years ago)
Size and Weight:
About 100 feet long and 70 tons
Diet:
Plants
Distinguishing Characteristics:
Enormous size; long neck and tail
About Paralititan:
Paralititan is a recent addition to the list of enormous sauropods that lived in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The remains of this giant herbivore were dug up in Egypt in 2001 (representative fossil: an upper-arm bone over five feet long); paleontologists believe that it may have been the second-largest sauropod in history, behind only the truly humongous Argentinosaurus.
One odd thing about Paralititan is that it prospered during a period (the middle Cretaceous) when other sauropods were slowly going extinct. It seems that the climate of northern Africa at this time was particularly productive of lush vegetation, tons of which a giant sauropod needed to eat every day.
