ExtinctZoo - The Largest Animal To Ever Walk On Two Legs

Episode Date: March 22, 2025

Sauropods were the largest dinosaurs to ever live... but what was the second largest? Its an animal you have likely never heard of AND it also happens to be the biggest thing to have ever walked on two legs (if it wanted to)

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Co-Pilot handles the spreadsheets. Learn more at M365Copilot.com slash work. The largest animals to have ever walked the earth by a very large margin, where the saropods. And if you want to be a little bit more specific, the Titanosaurs, a diverse group of longnecks that dominated the Cretaceous period and could be found in all seven continents. They grew to sizes never seen before. And to call them giant may even be seen as an understatement, as some weighed over 80 tons, which is more than a tank, and measured longer than 30 meters or 100 feet. So basically like stacking seven African bush elephants back to back. And because they were just so gosh darn big and widespread, we usually don't stop to think about

what the largest non-saropods were. But now that you're thinking about it, you might assume that the animal designed to take down these behemates, i.e. certain giant thereopods would logically be the answer. Considering to take down big, you have to be big. And they definitely came close, with the Tyrannosaurus Rex being capable of breaking 10 tons. But in reality, they were not the biggest non-saropod, and there were bigger fish, so to speak. And the real answer wasn't even an animal found in North America, instead being found in late Cretaceous China of all places, and it was a dinosaur you likely have never heard of, the Shantongasaurus.

It was originally described back in 1973, after researchers stumbled upon a field that contained five different skeletons in the Wang Shi group of the Shandong Peninsula. These skeletons were rather scattered and quite incomplete, yet it was still crystal clear to the paleontologists that they had found a giant dinosaur. The likes of which were extremely rare in those parts. And because of the sheer scale of the bones, it was half expected that these belonged to a sauropod, yet the shape obviously entailed that it was not one, and rather a new kind of Hadrosaur, which surprisingly bore a striking resemblance to the famous, but slightly younger, North American Hadrosaur known as the Edmontosaurus, to whom it is now considered a close relative,

and is actually situated within the same tribe, the Demosorony. shared a variety of unique traits not typically seen in other hadrosaurs, like a distinct skeletal structure and dental batteries. Remarkable considering the distance between the two, but what was more unexpected was that the Edmontosaurus, a hadrosaur famously known for its size, was actually the smaller of the two, as Shantongosaurus turned out to be Titanic. In fact, one of the smallest known specimens, who was likely a juvenile, still had a femur equivalent to that of a fully grown elephants, and it only got bigger from there, with a holotype measuring 14.7 meters or 48 feet in length, and weighing over 13 tons. So seven times heavier than your average car. And keep in

mind, this wasn't even on the high end either, and the largest individuals may have been between 16 and 18 tons, while reaching 17 meters or 56 feet from head to tail. Additionally, more liberal weight estimates suggest even higher numbers, ranging from 19 to 22 tons. But this is not confirmed and rather debated. But even at the lower estimates, this not only makes it heavier than every theropod we know of, Spinosaurus and T-Rex included, but also longer. Furthermore, had this size it outclassed any other ornithician ever discovered, the group to which not only it, but other dinosaur icons belong to, such as the Triceratops and Stegasaurus, which all makes it the largest non-sar-pod dinosaur to ever be unearthed. With it actually even outclassing a few

famous saropods, while the largest known femur of it is actually comparable to even the biggest saropods, and the owner of it, mind you, has not even been fully reconstructed. Although it is important to note that hadrosaurus had very different body proportions compared to saropods, which is to say, don't hold your breath for a hundred-ton Shantongosaurus. But still, it was absolutely massive. And compared to other famous herbivores, you'll find that it was over three times the size of a stegosaurus, double that of an anchylosaurus, i.e. a living tank, in roughly 40% greater than the max of a triceratops. And just for good measure in comparison, it would take about 260 average-sized humans to make it up in weight. So suffice to say, this was an absolute beast.

And because paleontologists believed it could have at least partially walked on its two hind legs, it is thus also considered the largest bipedal animal to have ever lived. So clearly, it was an anomaly, even amongst dinosaurs. But how does it compare to the largest mammals? And the answer is, pretty good, actually. And really, there are only two terrestrial mammals that even makes sense to compare it with, the paleooxidon nomadicus and the paracyrotherium. So, a giant elephant and rhino, respectively.

And while both of these mammals have been given Max estimates, similar to what's seen for our boy Shantongosaurus, most think that on average Shantongosaurus was heavier, and definitely longer. Thus giving in a good shot at taking the title for the biggest non-Sarapod animal to ever walk the earth, period. And what makes everything crazier is that the larger sizes seem to be the standard, not the exception.

As a discovery of over 50 Shantongosaurus specimens, possibly up to 100, found that each one was likely well over 10 tons, so who knows how big the true giants really got. This does make one wonder, though, why was the Shantongosaurus so enormous compared to other hadosaurs? And to be honest, we'll probably never truly know.

But for now, most recent, Researchers believe its exceptional size was in order to ward off any predators, and to allow it to reach the foliage that others could not. And in fact, the only other animal in its environment that might have occupied the same niche was the Titanosaur, ZooChang Titan, who might have even been a tads more. It's not every day that the largest dinosaur around was a hadrosaur instead of a sauropod. And this ultimately ensured that the adults were basically untouchable to any predator, especially since it vastly outsized the biggest theropod in those parts. Zoochang Tyrannis. As its name implies, this wasn't some chum, but rather a literal Tyrannosaur. That was to the Shantungosaurus, what a rex was to the Edmontosaurus. Only difference, though, is that the zoo ching tyrannis wasn't as much of a threat. Or that's the thought at least,

as the largest adults only hovered around five tons, so about a third of the Shantongasaurus's weight. So while it may have been a threat to juveniles or newborns, hunting adults would have been rather questionable at best, and perhaps even riskier for it than the had rest. seeing that the Shantongosaurus had an impressive array of defenses on its side. For starters, its size alone was a huge asset, and if this thing ran into you at top speed, it would have caused a whole world of hurt. And assuming a speed based on other large hatter soresors, being hit by one would have packed more energy than the punches of over 1,000 professional boxers combined.

But funny enough, standing in front of one might have actually been the smarter thing than standing behind or to the side of it, as in recent years, there's been an uptick in people who believed that the hadrosaurus were very capable kickers, who would use their giant hind limbs to obliterate an attacker, which is very bad news of true for Zuching Tyrannis, or really any other predator for that matter, seeing that just one back leg of a Shantongosaurus was basically the entire body size of a large theropod. Additionally, along with kicking, there is further support that hadosaurs were able to wield their tails too, which in the case of Shantongosaurus was longer than two cars, thicker than the tails in most sauropods, and can,

imposed of heavily ossified tendons. In other words, very hard. And this would have made it very stiff, but the hattersore could have perhaps moved its body from side to side in order to wield its tail almost like a club. And keep in mind that a hunter never had a worry about just one, as these guys stuck to large hurts, making predation all that much harder. Plus, research on their skulls have found the presence of large openings near their nostrils, which in life likely was covered by loose flaps of skin that would inflate in order to create a variety of sounds. So we're potentially not only talking about an animal that could very well defend itself, but also warn others if danger was close.

And then lastly, its bone structure was just in a general sense very, very robust, suggesting a high level of durability, and again, making it almost impossible for anything to take down a fully grown adult. And so far, there is no evidence that the zoo chain Tyrannus operated in packs to work around these defensive capabilities. Now, all these features and traits made Shantungasaurus fairly intimidating for a hadrosaur, and really for any dinosaur. And it was likely the closest thing we had to a tank in its environment.

But ultimately, it was still like others of its kind, a strict vegetarian, who possessed highly unique dental batteries that would have made them a nightmare for any dentist. Considering that each one had a mouth-packed, fold over 1,500 tiny teeth that continually replaced themselves, were unusually complex for a dinosaur, and were a range. arranged in columns that helped individuals ground up large amounts of tough, fibrous plant tissue. They also had huge beaks that were designed to shear or crop leaves and foliage off of a plant, and thus making them very efficient eaters, while also possibly doubling as nipping devices too. And when you combine their bodies and herd size, you get an animal that could do a lot of work

to forests and vegetation in general through eating and movement. I mean, even small herds of elephants today are known to dramatically reduce vegetation density, So just imagine what 50 or more giant Shantongosaurus lumbering around would do to the vegetation. And they almost definitely played an important role in shaping their environments, likely being a keystone species. But for now, the Shentongosaurus is only known to have lived in areas associated with the Wangshi group, which back during early Cretaceous, was a vast floodplain with a very warm and humid climate and a diverse range of flora, which mainly consisted of cycads, ginkos, conifers, and ferns. This combination resulted in an extremely dinosaur-rich environment, in the area in which

Shantungosaurus was found is actually known for having the most dinosaur fossils of any known formation, with other genera including the Sinoceratops, Zuchang serotops, Ischiosarotops, Anomalipis, Tanius, Panacosaurus, Micropacacephalosaurus, and Kailosaurus, and another kind of undescribed encalisaur. Meanwhile, while far less abundant, non-dinosaur has been found as well, in the form of fish, turtles, and even a poorly preserved crocodilian. Now, as previously mentioned, Shantungosaurus was essentially the largest animal in this environment, but what's interesting is that it didn't really have a wide range in general, despite having a fairly respectable duration of existence. While on the flip side, many other hadosaurs could

be found across wide areas, which leads some paleontologists to hypothesize that its size came at a cost, with not many places being capable of supporting such a large and gregarious creature. Additionally, many larger titanosaurs lived outside of the area, and therefore it may have been harder for this hadrosaur to expand and establish itself outside of the area that it was found. But nevertheless, it still found great success, having survived for over 10 million years, before finally disappearing from the fossil record. But now you may be wondering, how does the sauropod-sized hadrosaur go extinct? And the answer is for now, no one is certain, yet there are a couple of ideas. The first one again goes back to its size, being that it's large, and

large energy requirements eventually came back to haunt it, especially when its environment underwent changes, where it presumably was no longer able to support such a large animal and big herds. The second idea is that a local extinction event may have taken place. As certain parts of the formation have been connected to lava and pyroclastic flows, indicating that the region had some level volcanic activity, which definitely could have proved detrimental. And then the final idea is that it simply evolved into another hadrosaur, as they would actually remain a staple in China until it would be a single.

very end. Although no Hadrosaur would ever again get as big as the largest non-sarapod dinosaur ever, and nor presumably as anything else. Thanks for watching and until next time. Ambition comes in all shapes and sizes. At First Citizens Bank, we roll with your goals because we're built for what you're building. Fit for your ambition for Citizens Bank. a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly big board buck slot machine by aristocrat gaming, Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is giving one person a $1.6 million dream package. The biggest prize in Yamava's history. Club Serrano members can earn daily instant prizes and secure a spot in the finale May 29. Don't pass go and own it all. Only at

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