Dinosaur revealed – the Highland Giant

Wits University Origins Centre revealed the remains of the largest dinosaur ever to be found on South African soil on 10 November.

‘The Highland Giant’, as it is now called, received this name after the first bits of this huge animal were found during excavations under the Caledon River for the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. The bones were so large that they had to be stored in separate storage rooms. It was only after they were moved to new storage facilities that it was discovered that the remains formed part of one single huge dinosaur.

Dr Ian McKay, a paleontologist at the Origins Centre, said this discovery spanned over 20 years.

“Remains were found 20 years ago and ever since then, through the years we have been finding pieces of the dinosaur,” said Dr Mckay.

This dinosaur weighs about 14 tonnes, is about 16m long, and 3m high at the hips. The jurassic period of the great find is said to be about 200 million years ago. It habituated in well-vegetated floodplains crossed by permanent rivers while it enjoyed the diet of the herbivorous kind, eating trees and shrubs. The last piece of the dinosaur puzzle to end the 20 year find was the massive femur bone [thigh bone].

Dr McKay also added that South Africa, compared to countries overseas, has some of the oldest dinosaurs in the world.

Paleontologists are currently not sure what type of dinosaur it is. It could very well be a new, discovered species. More information about the remains will follow after the bones have been cleaned and studied. What is sure though, that judging from the measurements of the bones, it can be dubbed as the largest animal ever found in South Africa’s Karoo Basin.

Details: Wits Origins Centre, ask.origins@wits.ac.za or 011 717 4700.

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