Scientists have uncovered the fossilized remains of Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis, the largest known dinosaur from Southeast Asia, in northeastern Thailand. The plant-eating giant lived about 113 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period and measured nearly 90 feet in length, with an estimated weight of 25 to 28 tons. Its fossils, first spotted by a local villager, include vertebrae, ribs, pelvis bones, and a 5.8-foot-long upper arm bone.

Nagatitan belonged to the sauropods, a group of long-necked, long-tailed dinosaurs that were the largest land animals in Earth's history. Researchers believe it fed on large amounts of vegetation such as conifers and seed ferns in a subtropical environment of forests, savannas, and rivers filled with crocodiles and fish. Although large predators lived in the same ecosystem, adult Nagatitan likely faced little threat due to its immense size.

The discovery sheds light on dinosaur diversity in Southeast Asia, where relatively few sauropods have been identified. Nagatitan is the largest and youngest sauropod known from the region and belonged to a subgroup characterized by lightweight, air-filled bones. Its existence during a time of rising global temperatures may help scientists better understand the link between climate conditions and the evolution of gigantic body size in dinosaurs.