Amphicoelias fragillimus, a sauropod dinosaur known from a single lost vertebra fragment, may have been the largest animal ever with an estimated length of 58m. However, its claims are disputed due to the unknown location of the fossils and controversial extrapolations. The largest land animal title also depends on weight, with Bruhathkayosaurus approaching 240 tons. The blue whale, at 33.5m and 195 tons, is often recognized as the largest animal. More fossils are needed to reach a consensus.
The largest land animal that ever lived is probably Amphicoelias fragillimus, a sauropod dinosaur known only from a single fossil fragment of vertebra, 1.5 m (5 ft) tall, which has since been lost. In its complete form, it has been estimated that the entire fossil vertebra would have been 2.7 m (8.8 ft) tall. A giant fossilized femur was also discovered near the vertebra.
Extrapolating from the size of the femur, and assuming that A. fragillimus had similar proportions to a typical diplodocid (a family of long, slender sauropods), its estimated length (including tail) was 58 m (190 ft), much longer of the blue whale, often cited as the largest animal that ever lived, at only 30-33 m (98-110 ft) long. Being slender, however, its weight would have been only about 130 tons, less than the record 195 tons for a blue whale or the 190-240 tons estimate for the weight of Bruhathkayosaurus (whose name means “huge-bodied lizard”). ), another sauropod.
Due to the unknown location of the A. fragillimus fossils and the tenuous method of extrapolation, its claims of the title of largest animal ever are often disputed. If the fossil actually existed and the extrapolation holds, then A. fragillimus is not only the largest land animal that ever lived, but the largest animal overall. For decades, Brachiosaurus, a sauropod with its largest individuals possessing a length of about 29 m (96 ft), was thought to be not only the largest land animal, but approaching the maximum possible weight a land animal could have (30-60 tons) and still holds itself without needing to be suspended in water. However, modern estimates of sauropod weight cite seven dinosaurs with weights greater than Brachiosaurus, most clustering in the 60-100 ton range: Sauroposeidon, Antarctosaurus, Paralititan, Argentinosaurus, Puertasaurus, A. fragillimus, and Bruhathkayosaurus.
So what you consider to be the largest land animal that ever lived depends on several factors: Do you believe that the A. fragillimus fossil actually existed and that the standard extrapolation of its size is correct? Or is weight the most important determinant of the world’s largest animal? If so, your answer might be A. fragillimus, with a length of 58m (190ft), or Bruhathkayosaurus, with a maximum weight approaching 240 tons. For comparison, the largest blue whale ever recorded was 33.5 m (110 ft) long and weighed 195 tons.
Because both the vertebra and femur are unobtainable, size claims for A. fragillimus are confusing and uncertain. The extrapolations used to project the size and weight of A. fragillimus and Bruhathkayosaurus are controversial, so they are sometimes not recognized as the largest and most massive animals, being replaced by the contemporary species we know most about, the blue whale. Reaching a consensus on which land animal was truly the largest will surely require locating more fossils.
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