A new species of quadrupedal dinosaur that weighed approximately 26,000 pounds 鈥� twice as much as two adult African elephants 鈥� and that crouched like a cat has been discovered by scientists in South Africa.
Dubbed the Ledumahadi mafube, the herbivorous dinosaur, which has never before been described in scientific literature, was discovered by researchers at South Africa鈥檚 University of the Witwatersrand.
Its bones had been unearthed decades ago during a construction project in the country, but they remained unstudied at the university for many years 鈥� until now.
The dinosaur鈥檚 name means 鈥済iant thunderclap at dawn鈥� in southern Sotho, a Bantu language that is spoken in the region, a nod to the dinosaur鈥檚 enormous size.
The dinosaur is believed to have lumbered along some 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa.
According to the researchers鈥� findings, which were published Sept. 27 , Ledumahadi mafube was 鈥渢he largest land animal to have ever existed at the time it lived in the earliest Jurassic.鈥�
Based on an analysis of the growth rings of the dinosaur鈥檚 fossilized bones, researchers believed that the newly-discovered dinosaur lived to be nearly 14 years old.
According to the study, Ledumahadi mafube was a 鈥渢ransitional鈥� creature that evolved from a smaller ancestor that was bipedal. It walked on all fours with a crouch like a cat, but it could also pop up on its hind legs in order to hunt for food or to eat if necessary. This feature allowed it to be stable and helps explain why those quadrupedal creatures that evolved from it, such as the brontosaurus, grew to be so huge.
