An artist's design of what might look like the newly discovered Ledumahadi mafube species. Another South African dinosaur, Heterodontosaurus tucki, looks in the foreground.(Photo: Viktor Radermacher)

Fossils of a new giant species of dinosaurs have been discovered in South Africa, a study published Thursday reports.

The creature, who lived 200 million years ago, was about twice as large as an elephant in modern Africa. According to the study, it was also the largest terrestrial animal living on the planet.

Known as Ledumahadi mafube Latin, it weighed over 26,000 pounds and was about 13 feet tall at the hips.

Although it's not the biggest dinosaur ever found, "it's the first real giant to evolve into a long series of dinosaurs called sauropod dinosaurs," said Jonah Choiniere, paleontologist at the University of the Witwatersrand. , coauthor of the study.

The sauropods, weighing up to 66 tons, include well-known species such as brontosaurus. So, this part of South Africa was at the origin of all the giant dinosaurs that evolved later, said Choiniere.

The new dino is a close relative of other massive dinosaurs from Argentina who lived around the same time, reinforcing the idea that the supercontinent Pangea was still assembled at that time. "It shows how easily dinosaurs could travel from Johannesburg to Buenos Aires at that time," said Choiniere.

This animal was probably about 14 years old when he died.

The dinosaur calls Sesotho for "a giant thunderclap at dawn". Sesotho is one of the 11 official languages ​​of South Africa.

The discovery of the dinosaur underscores the importance of South African paleontology to the world, according to South Africa's Minister of Science and Technology, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane.

"Not only does our country hold the cradle of humanity, but we also have fossils that help us understand the rise of gigantic dinosaurs," she said.

The study was published in the journal Current Biology.

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