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S12DB17 Why Palaeontologists Hate 'Biggest Dinosaur' Headlines

August 5, 2026 · 10 min

Show notes

In this bite from an old live stream, Iszi Lawrence and Dr Dave Hone discuss why claims of the "largest dinosaur ever" are much harder to prove than the headlines suggest. They explore how palaeontologists estimate the size of enormous titanosaurs, why complete skeletons are so rare, and why finding an even bigger individual is always a possibility.

Along the way they also discuss whether dinosaurs ever stopped growing, why weight matters more than length when comparing giant animals, and why every new "biggest dinosaur" announcement should be treated with a healthy dose of scientific scepticism.

Link to the article in Live Science https://www.livescience.com/largest-dinosaur-discovered-in-argentina.html

Watch on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/97pjZ7sDz2Q

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