Even in a year where fossil explorations have been curtailed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, palaeontologists have dug deep to find out that Australia may have been home to one of the largest dinosaurs to roam planet Earth. Scientists in Australia have classified a new species of dinosaur as the largest ever found on the continent.

According to a new research, it has been revealed that a dinosaur, newly named as “Australotitan cooperensis” or “The Southern Titan” who roamed across Australia nearly 100 million years ago constituted the “titanosaur” family was “as long as a Basketball court.”

The dinosaur was first discovered in 2007 on a farm in south-west Queensland.  The palaeontologists since then have been working hard to identify the dinosaur, in order to distinguish it from the other known species by comparing scans of its bones to those of other sauropods.

The palaeontologists through their research have estimated that the species was about 5 to 6.5 metres (16-21 feet) high and had a length of around 25 to 30 metres (82-98 feet), making it the largest dinosaurs species found on the continent.

The scientists used a used 3D scan models of bones to compare them with the remains of the species’ that were believed to be the close relatives of the Southern Titan when dinosaurs walked the Earth. 

Researchers performing 3D scans of the bones.

The researchers had nicknamed the dinosaur ‘Cooper’ during the course of the study on it, as it was found near the site called Cooper Creek.

As the dinosaur remains now identified, the researchers and the team of palaeontologists said that the identifying process of Australotitan cooperensis had been a long one due to the remote location of the bones and their size and delicate condition.