Tanzanian 'beast' sheds light on gigantic dinosaur group

The Cretaceous Period dinosaur Mnyamawamtuka in its environmental setting is seen in this illustration released in Athens, Ohio, U.S., February 13, 2019. [Reuters]

A relatively complete skeleton of a long-necked, long-tailed plant-eater excavated from a rocky cliff above a Tanzanian river is providing insight into the early evolution of a dinosaur group that later included Earth’s largest-ever land animals.

Scientists on Wednesday announced the discovery of fossils of a dinosaur called Mnyamawamtuka moyowamkia that measured roughly 26 feet (8 meters) long, weighed about one ton, lived between 110 and 100 million years ago and was an early and comparatively small member of the group called titanosaurs.