• Giant dinosaurs lived on the earth much earlier than previously thought, according to a team of excavators in Argentina, who discovered the remains of a 200-million-year old species.

• The species, baptised Ingentia prima, was about three times the size of the largest Triassic dinosaurs from its era.
• It was discovered in the Balde de Leyes dig site in San Juan province, 1,100 km west of the Argentine capital Buenos Aires.
• The species exhibits a growth strategy that was unknown until now and indicates that gigantism originated much earlier than was thought.
• According to scientists, Ingenia prima was the first dinosaur species to reach gigantism.
• The dinosaur’s bone fragments displayed cyclical and seasonal growth, with a different kind of tissue to other sauropods, which allowed it to grow very quickly.
• It’s believed that the species grew to eight to 10 meters tall and weighed around 10 tonnes, equal to two or three African elephants.
• These were herbivore dinosaurs, quadrupeds, easily recognisable by their very long neck and tail, and from the sauropod group.
• Before this discovery, it was thought that gigantism developed during the Jurassic period, around 180 million years ago.
• The Triassic period extended from around 250-200 million years ago and the Jurassic from 200-145 million years ago.

The Hindu