Question 1

How do you say Dreadnoughtus?

Accepted Answer

You say it dred-NAW-tus. The tricky part is the middle, which sounds like the word naughty without the ee sound at the end. The emphasis goes on the second syllable, so you really punch that NAW part. Say it out loud a few times: dred-NAW-tus. Once you get it, it rolls off the tongue pretty easily.

Question 2

What does Dreadnoughtus mean?

Accepted Answer

Dreadnoughtus means something that fears nothing or dreads nothing. It comes from two Old English words: dread, meaning to fear, and nought, meaning nothing or zero. Paleontologist Kenneth Lacovara named it this because a fully grown adult Dreadnoughtus was so massive that no predator in its world could have threatened it. The name was also inspired by the famous dreadnought battleships of the early 1900s, which were the most powerful warships of their time.

Question 3

How big was Dreadnoughtus?

Accepted Answer

Dreadnoughtus measured about 26 meters, which is 85 feet, from nose to tail tip, making it longer than two school buses parked end to end. It weighed somewhere between 48 and 49 metric tons, which is heavier than seven African elephants combined. Its femur, the thigh bone, alone was nearly 2 meters tall, which is taller than most adult humans. And here is the wild part: the fossil specimen we have was still a growing teenager, so adults may have been even bigger.

Question 4

Was Dreadnoughtus the biggest dinosaur ever?

Accepted Answer

Dreadnoughtus is one of the largest dinosaurs ever discovered from reasonably complete remains, but whether it is the absolute biggest is genuinely debated among scientists. Contenders like Patagotitan mayorum and Argentinosaurus are also in the running, but many of those size estimates are based on fewer bones. What makes Dreadnoughtus special is that we have about 70 percent of its bone types, so the size estimate is more reliable than most giant sauropod calculations. It is a legitimate top contender for the title.

Question 5

Where was Dreadnoughtus found?

Accepted Answer

Dreadnoughtus fossils were discovered in Patagonia, in the Santa Cruz Province of southern Argentina. Specifically, the bones came from a rock formation called the Cerro Fortaleza Formation, which dates back about 72.2 million years. The site was a remote floodplain environment, and it took four field seasons for Dr. Kenneth Lacovara and his team to excavate all the bones. Patagonia has become one of the world's most important regions for giant sauropod discoveries.

Question 6

What did Dreadnoughtus eat?

Accepted Answer

Dreadnoughtus was a herbivore, meaning it ate only plants. It used its long neck to reach vegetation both high in the treetops and low along the ground, sweeping across a wide feeding area without moving its enormous body. Its teeth were pencil-shaped and designed for raking leaves off branches rather than chewing. The food was swallowed almost whole and broken down by powerful digestive processes in its massive gut. Scientists estimate it needed to consume hundreds of kilograms of plant material every single day just to fuel its gigantic body.

Question 7

When did Dreadnoughtus live?

Accepted Answer

Dreadnoughtus lived approximately 72.2 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period. That places it in the Campanian to early Maastrichtian stage, which is relatively close to the end of the age of dinosaurs. The asteroid impact that wiped out non-avian dinosaurs happened about 66 million years ago, so Dreadnoughtus had been extinct for around 6 million years before that final extinction event. It lived alongside other South American dinosaurs in a warm, lush floodplain environment.

Question 8

Who discovered Dreadnoughtus?

Accepted Answer

Dreadnoughtus was discovered by Dr. Kenneth Lacovara, a paleontologist from Drexel University in Philadelphia. He first spotted the fossils during a 2005 expedition to Patagonia, Argentina. His team spent four field seasons excavating the bones from 2005 through 2009, recovering 145 bones from two partial skeletons. The dinosaur was formally named and described in a scientific paper published in 2014 in the journal Scientific Reports. Dr. Lacovara also had 3D laser scans made of every bone so researchers worldwide could access the data.

Question 9

Did Dreadnoughtus have any predators?

Accepted Answer

A fully grown adult Dreadnoughtus almost certainly had no natural predators. At 48 metric tons, it was simply too large for any known predator in Late Cretaceous South America to threaten. That is literally where the name comes from: it feared nothing. Juvenile Dreadnoughtus individuals would have been vulnerable to large abelisaurid theropods, which were the top predators in South America at the time. But once fully grown, Dreadnoughtus was essentially untouchable.

Question 10

How many Dreadnoughtus fossils have been found?

Accepted Answer

So far, fossils from two individuals have been found, both from the same site in the Cerro Fortaleza Formation of Patagonia, Argentina. The larger specimen provided most of the 145 bones recovered during the excavations. The smaller individual was also significant for helping scientists understand variation within the species. No other Dreadnoughtus specimens have been officially reported since the 2014 description, making it relatively rare in the fossil record despite its enormous size.

Question 11

Was Dreadnoughtus fully grown when it died?

Accepted Answer

No, and that is one of the most fascinating things about this dinosaur. Scientists examined the microscopic structure of the bones under a microscope in a technique called paleohistology, looking at growth rings similar to tree rings. The analysis revealed the main specimen was still actively growing rapidly when it died, meaning it was essentially a teenager. This suggests adult Dreadnoughtus individuals could have been significantly larger than the already record-breaking fossil we have, though we do not know exactly how large they got.

Question 12

Is Dreadnoughtus related to Brachiosaurus?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Dreadnoughtus and Brachiosaurus are both sauropod dinosaurs, the group famous for long necks and enormous size. More specifically, Dreadnoughtus belongs to a subgroup called Titanosauria, while Brachiosaurus belongs to a different subgroup called Brachiosauridae. They share a common ancestor but split into separate evolutionary lineages. Titanosaurs like Dreadnoughtus were generally the dominant large sauropods during the Cretaceous period, while brachiosaurs were more common earlier in the Jurassic. Both groups represent the extreme end of what evolution can do with plant-eating body plans.

Question 13

How fast could Dreadnoughtus move?

Accepted Answer

Dreadnoughtus almost certainly moved slowly, as all giant sauropods are thought to have done. Scientists estimate large titanosaurs moved at speeds of around 5 to 8 kilometers per hour, roughly a brisk human walking pace. Moving faster would have placed enormous stress on the bones and joints supporting tens of thousands of kilograms of body weight. The good news is that at its size, speed was not really necessary for survival. No predator was going to successfully chase down and attack an animal the size of a small building.

Dreadnoughtus Pronunciation

What does Dreadnoughtus mean?

Name Roots

Fun Facts

Learn More About Dreadnoughtus

Related Dinosaurs