The Titanosaur is no longer.
As the largest animal to roam the Earth,
you'd think such an impressive presence
would be almost invincible.
How did this titan of a creature
finally meet its demise?
Well it seems even the mightiest can fall.
This is WHAT IF,
and here's what would happen
Titanosaurs were part of a diverse group
of dinosaurs called sauropods,
from the Greek, meaning 'lizard foot.'
Their enormous skeletal remains,
along with immense lizard footprints,
have been found all over the world.
This global domination is both
imposing and incredible.
Their extraordinary geographical distribution
had to do with the splitting
of the subcontinent Gondwana
that took place at the end of
the Cretaceous Period.
These long-neck giants hitched a ride
when this enormous landmass parted
and they lumbered onward to
new terra firma.
The largest Titanosaur was discovered
in Argentina in 1987.
Appropriately dubbed the Argentinosaurus
for this location,
they lived about
100 million years ago.
Estimated to weigh up to
with a length ranging between
and as tall as
For some comparison,
picture the towering height of a
seven-story building
or the Great Sphinx of Giza.
Throw in the mass of 12 Asian elephants,
or 2,200 kilograms (5,000 pounds).
That's more than a Boeing 737's
maximum takeoff weight.
And even the lengthy stretch of an
official NBA basketball court
at 29 meters (50 feet)
would only hold three quarters
of the creature's body.
Because of their massive size,
they were able to cover a lot of ground
without moving excessively
and expending too much energy,
with top speeds only averaging around
8 km/h (5 mph)
A social bunch,
they traveled in small herds
and needed to continuously be on
the move to fuel their gigantic appetites.
Well, their fate was sealed
66 million years ago,
when an asteroid struck the Earth.
Not only was this the end
of the Titanosaurs,
but it also wiped out 75% of life on Earth.
Yet, if these titans managed to
ride out changing times,
they would've needed to overcome
several catastrophic global extinctions.
First, they'd have to sidestep the asteroid
that wiped them out originally,
then persevere when global warming
spiked global temperatures
55 million years later,
and also plow through the Ice Age
2.6 million years ago.
If they were here present day,
consuming so much plant life,
where would that leave us humans
on the food chain?
Evolving Titanosaurs could deplete
the ecosystem of vegetation entirely
and might be forced to become carnivores,
and adapt to their
ever changing environment.
While they may not become
pure meat eaters,
they could become omnivores.
And if they developed a taste for meat,
who would be on the menu?
You and I?
This could create a scary ripple effect
in the food chain and possibly cause
many species to die off.
Since it's possible we could be
considered prey,
we would be forced to live in the treetops.
Maybe in a magical kingdom like Endor.
Maybe not.
Our new form of transportation
could be the vines,
swinging from tree to tree like Tarzan
to avoid the treachery of open jaws below.
But what if humans were able to tame the titan?
Picture a happy, helpful Titanosaur
on a construction site,
working the gravel mines.
Look familiar?
Or, you could see them being useful
and marching into battle like the Haradrims
on giant elephants in
The Lord of the Rings,
taking out everything in their path.
And imagine how many mouths one
of these giants could feed.
The Titanosaur could become a source
of food for humans and solve world hunger.
This might force them to flee land
and head to the water living off a plethora
of underwater marine life and plankton.
Wait,
could it be possible the Titanosaur
is actually alive today,
hiding in murky depths off the coast of
Inverness, Scotland?
Perhaps sharing the water with
another prehistoric behemoth,
the Mosasaurus?
Well, that's a story for another WHAT IF.