Whales v. Dinosaurs

[jamolnar@juno.com]

When you ask "which is the largest animal ever?" you have to separate
length and weight.

The candidates for longest animals include:
Seismosaurus, sauropod, estimated 150 feet (disputed)
Argentinosaurus, sauropod, estimated 136 to 148 feet long (based on less
than a dozen bones)
Breviparopus, a sauropod?, estimated 157 feet long (based only on
footprints)
Blue Whale, 120 feet long

The candidates for heaviest animals include:
Blue Whale,  to 130 U.S. tons
Amphicoelias, sauropod, estimated 100 to 150 tonnes (based on one
vertebra)
Argentinosaurus, sauropod, estimated 80 to 100 tonnes (based on less than
a dozen bones.)

The trouble is, if dinosaurs grew throughout their lives, have we found
the largest individuals of the above animals yet?  Even the whale?

I hope this answers your question.

Judy Molnar
Education Associate, Virginia Living Museum
vlmed@juno.com
jamolnar@juno.com
All questions are valid; all answers are tentative.

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