Imagine Meeting a Reptile 128 Feet Long: Meet the Supersaurus

In today's world it's hard to imagine that some dinosaurs were so huge. In fact, new information reveals that the Supersaurus (which resembles a brontosaurus and brachiosaurus) grew up to 128 feet long! 

(caption: An illustration of Supersaurus shows what a giant it was, reaching at least 128 feet (39 meters) in length. (Image credit: Sean Fox/Fossil Crates))

Supersaurus might be the longest dinosaur that ever lived

By Laura Geggel Live Science Nov 15, 2021

Like other exceedingly long dinosaurs, Supersaurus is a diplodocid — a long-necked sauropod whose whip-like tail went on for days. Supersaurus has always been viewed as one of longest dinosaurs, but research now shows that "this is the longest dinosaur based on a decent skeleton," as other dinosaur remains are fragmentary, and it's challenging to accurately estimate their lengths, Brian Curtice, a paleontologist at the Arizona Museum of Natural History who is spearheading the research, told Live Science

When Supersaurus was alive about 150 million years ago during the Jurassic period, it exceeded 128 feet (39 meters) and possibly even reached 137 feet (42 m) from snout to tail, Curtice's new research found. Even its "shorter" size is record-breaking; at 128 feet, the dinosaur would have been longer than another contender — Diplodocus, which could reach lengths of 108 feet (33 m), according to a 2006 study of a specimen known as Seismosaurus in the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin.

The first Supersaurus specimen was uncovered in 1972 in a chock-full bonebed, in what was basically a "bone salad," Curtice said. So, it wasn't immediately clear which bones belonged to the beast.

Since the original finding, other paleontologists have discovered partial skeletons thought to be Supersaurus — including one nicknamed "Jimbo" and another dubbed "Goliath" — in Wyoming. However, researchers have yet to formally identify Goliath as a Supersaurus in a peer-reviewed journal. 

FULL STORY: https://www.livescience.com/supersaurus-longest-dinosaur-on-record