When I saw it for the first time, it was taller than me
The newly named Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis weighed approximately 27 tons and measured 27 meters in length, dwarfing even large T-rex specimens. Bones were discovered in 2016 by a local resident near a community pond in northwestern Thailand and formally studied between 2016-2024 by international researchers.
- Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis weighed 27 metric tons and measured 27 meters long
- Bones discovered in 2016 by a local resident near a community pond in northwestern Thailand
- Formal study conducted 2016-2024 by researchers from University College London, Thai Department of Mineral Resources, and other institutions
- Lived during Early Cretaceous, 120-100 million years ago
- Roughly twice the size of other known sauropod species in Thailand
Researchers identified a new dinosaur species in Thailand named Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis, weighing 27 metric tons and measuring 27 meters long, making it one of the largest ever discovered in Southeast Asia.
In 2016, a resident walking along a community pond in northwestern Thailand spotted something unusual jutting from the earth near the water's edge. The bones he found would spend years in careful study before scientists could fully grasp what they held: evidence of one of the largest creatures ever to walk Southeast Asia.
The creature has now been formally named Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis. Researchers from Thailand, the United Kingdom, and other institutions spent nearly a decade analyzing the remains—a fragmentary but telling collection of limb bones, vertebrae, ribs, and pelvis. When the study was published this week in Scientific Reports, it confirmed what the initial measurements had suggested: this was a sauropod, one of those long-necked, pillar-legged herbivores that dominated the Cretaceous landscape. The animal weighed roughly 27 metric tons and stretched nearly 27 meters from nose to tail. To put that in perspective, a large Tyrannosaurus rex—the apex predator of its era—topped out at around 5,000 to 6,800 kilograms and measured just over 12 meters. This creature was nearly four times heavier.
Thitiwoot Sethapanichsakul, a doctoral student at University College London and the study's lead author, first encountered the most striking piece of evidence in person: the humerus, or upper foreleg bone. It measured 1.78 meters—taller than Sethapanichsakul himself. "When I saw it for the first time, it was taller than me, and that was quite shocking," he recalled. The bone alone told a story of scale that no photograph could quite convey. Among known sauropod species in Thailand, this creature was roughly twice the size of anything previously documented in the country.
The discovery process unfolded in stages. After the initial 2016 find, fieldwork continued sporadically through 2019, with additional excavations conducted in 2024. Teams from University College London, Thailand's Department of Mineral Resources, Mahasarakham University, and Suranaree University of Technology conducted 3D scans of the material, mapping the geometry of each bone to understand the animal's proportions and biomechanics. The dinosaur lived during the Early Cretaceous, somewhere between 120 and 100 million years ago, sharing its world with smaller herbivorous dinosaurs but no large predators in its immediate ecosystem.
The naming itself carried personal and cultural weight. Sethapanichsakul, who is Thai, chose to honor both his heritage and the mythology of his region. "Naga" refers to the serpent deities of South and Southeast Asian folklore—creatures often associated with water, which made the name fitting given the pond-side discovery. "Titan" invokes the giants of Greek mythology and captures the animal's sheer mass. The species name, "chaiyaphumensis," points to the Thai province where the bones emerged from the earth. For Sethapanichsakul, naming a dinosaur from his own country fulfilled a childhood promise to himself. "It's a kind of fulfillment of a childhood dream," he said, "that someday I would name a dinosaur. And I wanted it to be from Thailand."
The find underscores why Thailand has become a paleontological hotspot across Asia. The country sits atop thick layers of sedimentary rock laid down during the Mesozoic Era, spanning from 252 to 66 million years ago. These geological formations preserve an exceptional record of ancient life, making the region a natural laboratory for understanding how dinosaurs evolved and lived. Each new discovery—like Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis—adds another chapter to that story, revealing the diversity and scale of creatures that once dominated the landscape.
Notable Quotes
When I saw it for the first time, it was taller than me, and that was quite shocking.— Thitiwoot Sethapanichsakul, lead researcher and doctoral student at University College London
It's a kind of fulfillment of a childhood dream that someday I would name a dinosaur. And I wanted it to be from Thailand.— Thitiwoot Sethapanichsakul
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did it take more than a decade to formally identify this dinosaur after the bones were found?
The bones were scattered and fragmentary—not a complete skeleton. Scientists had to carefully excavate, clean, and analyze each piece, then compare them to known species. That kind of rigorous work takes time, especially when you're dealing with an animal that might be entirely new to science.
What made the humerus so striking to the lead researcher?
It was literally taller than he was. When you're standing in front of a single bone from an animal's foreleg and it towers over you, you're confronted with a scale that numbers on a page can't quite capture. That moment of physical confrontation with the evidence is what makes paleontology real.
Why choose a mythological name rather than something purely scientific?
Because the dinosaur was found in Thailand, and the researcher wanted to honor that place and its culture. The naga—a water serpent from local mythology—made perfect sense given the pond-side discovery. Science doesn't have to be sterile. Names can tell a story.
How does this discovery change what we know about Southeast Asian dinosaurs?
It shows that the region hosted creatures of truly colossal size, not just smaller species. It also reinforces that Thailand's geological record is exceptional. There's likely much more waiting to be found in those sedimentary layers.
What does a 27-ton herbivore eat?
Plants. Vast quantities of them. These sauropods were essentially mobile processing plants, stripping vegetation from trees and shrubs across entire landscapes. They would have needed to consume enormous amounts daily just to fuel their bodies.
Is this the largest dinosaur ever discovered?
No—some sauropods from other parts of the world were even larger. But in Southeast Asia, this is the biggest on record. That distinction matters because it tells us something about the regional ecosystem and what conditions allowed such giants to thrive.