Sadly the only known fossils of the Amphicoelias Fragillimus was lost in 1870’s which means the only evidence to date is from the drawings and field notes completed at the time. Named by the paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope in 1878, the fossils where found by an employee of Cope, Oramel Lucas in Garden Park, north of Canon City, Colorado, USA. Cope discovered a huge vertebra and a short distance away part of a femur (believed to be part of the same dinosaur).
These huge creatures boasted a vertebra some 4.9 feet (1.5 meters) and up to 8.9 feet (2.7 meters) in height. The vertebra was very delicate which is reflected in the name of the dinosaur, Fragillimus means very fragile, which was produced by very thin lamiae (vertebral walls).
The spine is made up of several vertebras which vary from animal to animal, if just a single vertebra measures 4.9 feet by 8.9 feet (1.5 by 2.7 meters) this dinosaur was incredibly big.
Using the size of the vertebra Cope was able to theorize that the length of the femora (upper leg bone) would be approximately 12 feet (3.7 meters) tall. He came to this figure as research into other dinosaurs with a more complete skeleton, which had been discovered, showed that the femora was always twice as long as the tallest dorsal vertebra.
Due to the fragile nature of the vertebra discovered by Cope, it is believed that attempts to preserve the fossil resulted in the fossil being destroyed, however, the very careful documentation, which included drawings, measurements and field notes, carried out by Cope remains and this is what is used in the research of this massive dinosaur.
It is believed the Amphicoelias Fragillimus was a slender creature, although there is no doubt it was a huge animal, it is estimated to have weighted 122 metric tons.
Amphicoelias Fragillimus is the biggest dinosaur ever to have roamed the planet according to present data, this gigantic pre-historic creature is estimated to have been 131 feet (40 meters) to 197 (60 meters) long, which makes it the biggest dinosaur and longest of any dinosaur ever found to date. Standing some 29.5 feet tall (9 meters) the Amphicoelias Fragillimus towered above all the other dinosaurs, that’s taller than 2 London double decker buses stood on top of each other.
The Amphicoelias Fragillimus is believed to have been a plant eater (herbivore). Living in the Mesozoic era of the Late Jurassic period, some 156 to 151 million years ago.
The largest creature on the earth today is the blue whale, at 80 to 100 feet in length and weighing around 120 tons (109 tonnes), compared to the Amphicoelias Fragillimus, the blue whale is a small mammal. The Giraffe is the tallest of present day animals standing between 15 and 17 feet, which makes it about half the height of the enormous Amphicoelias Fragillimus.