This "incredibly thick" dinosaur weighed 26,000 pounds and was the largest land animal on Earth.

SALT LAKE CITY – Scientists have recently discovered a new species of dinosaur that would have been the largest land animal of its time.

The newly discovered dinosaur – called mafube Ledumahadi, which is Sesotho for "a giant thunderbolt at dawn" – is a parent of the Brontosaurus who allegedly weighed about 26,000 pounds, about the size of two elephants. Africa, according to research published in the journal Current Biology.

It was believed that the dinosaur was a herbivore that walked on all fours.

Researchers from the University of the Witwatersrand have discovered the dinosaur in South Africa, where sesotho is an official language of the indigenous population.

"The name reflects the large size of the animal as well as the fact that its lineage first appeared in the sauropod dinosaurs," said Jonah Choiniere, author and professor of paleontology at the University of Pennsylvania. Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. "It honors both the recent and ancient heritage of southern Africa."

Blair McPhee, a graduate student working with Choiniere, discovered the bones in 2012. According to CNN, Blair was not sure where the bones came from.

"Blair told me how important he thought it was and even showed that some of his bones were still coming out of the rocks in the field," Choiniere said.

Scientists have spent years discovering the complete dinosaur, which was probably only 14 years old when he died.

The researchers believed that the dinosaur was a parent of sauropod dinosaurs, such as the aforementioned Brontosaurus. However, the dinosaur probably developed independently of other sauropods.

And, according to CNET, the dinosaur probably walked on the ground before the sauropods.

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"The first thing that struck me about this animal is the incredible strength of the limb bones," said McPhee, lead author of the study, according to CNN. "It was similar in size to the gigantic sauropod dinosaurs, but while the arms and legs of these animals are usually quite thin, those of Ledumahadi are incredibly thick."

The discovery also shows that dinosaurs grew differently than everyone else thought.

"The evolution of sauropods is not as simple as we thought before," Choiniere said. "It seems that sauropodomorphs have developed four-legged postures at least twice before having the ability to walk with straight limbs, which has undoubtedly contributed to their success in an evolutionary sense."