We all know that sauropods were huge. But Argentinosaurus blew all others out of the water, being the largest dinosaur of all time. These massive sauropods roamed the lands of prehistoric South America, towering over every other creature around them, and outweighing them tenfold. Argentinosaurus was also not only the largest dinosaur of all time, but also the biggest land animal to ever exist.

Basic info

Meaning of name: Argentinosaurus means "Argentina lizard".

Time of existence: Argentinosaurus lived in the late Cretaceous, 99.6 million to 89.8 million years ago.

Diet: Argentinosaurus was a herbivore, feeding on all types of plants that thrived around them.

Threats: Young Argentinosaurus could end up being fed upon by predators like large pterosaurs, crocodilians, and large predatory dinosaurs like Giganotosaurus. Adults were also at risk from the Giganotosaurus, although at a much lesser extent.

Size: Argentinosaurus grew anywhere from 98 to 130 feet long.

Attributes: As already stated before, Argentinosaurus was the largest ever land animal. Their long necks were also used to feed on trees and ground dwelling plants over long distances. Like other sauropods, Argentinosaurus swallowed stones in order to help grind up their food. There is also some evidence that they migrated over long distances to lay their eggs.

Nigel Marven looks up at the massive Argentinosaurus

Appearances in the Walking with... series

Chased by Dinosaurs

Episode 2-Land of Giants

Argentinosaurus serves as one of the two main subjects of the episode. They first appear in the opening synopsis, where Nigel is seen flying in the middle of the herd. The first sign of an Argentinosaurus in the episode is a massive skeleton which Nigel camps near, stating they are the largest dinosaurs ever, and describing how some of their skulls have bite marks in them, indicating they were attacked by large predators, which couldn't have been Tyrannosaurus as they hadn't evolved yet. We see two brief flashes of Argentinosaurus, one showing its legs, and another showing one being attacked by a group of large predators, with Nigel stating that a hunt like that happens there every year.

Nigel next to the skeleton of an Argentinosaurus

Nigel soon travels to the nesting site near a lake, and finds some eggshells laid by Argentinosaurus. He ends up stumbling across a single Argentinosaurus at the site, though it is a youngster, who has stayed there because of the food. Nigel watches it from behind a tree, and decides to approach her as she is near the lake. The sauropod notices him and grumbles in annoyance and walking off. After a near-death experience with a massive crocodilian, Nigel leaves the nesting site in search of the herd, though he is unsuccessful for a while. Eventually, he decides to search for the herd from the air using a plane, and finally finds them migrating to the nesting site, flying over them, and even in between the two lines the herd is in, some looking over at him in confusion as they walk on a hill, and pass a massive cloud formation. Eventually, Nigel lands his plane, and decides to drive to a large volcanic field where the herd were heading to. He soon finds them, only 20 miles from the nesting site, roaring to each other. Nigel then drives further up to where the herd will pass by, and decides to do, what he calls, a little dinosaur science. He puts down some large weighing pads for lorries and some wiring to connect them and weigh them as they approach.

The Argentinosaurus herd approaching

At first, none of them are able to be weighed, as they continue putting only one foot on the pads when they need all four. Eventually, one steps right, and the weight goes to 92 tons, more than 30 African elephants. As the herd continues walking, Nigel decides to wait and follow them in the morning. He soon arrives to where the herd are traveling, and they are already being followed by a large group of Giganotosaurus. As Nigel continued following, he soon found that this hunt would be far different than lions hunting zebras, and as the predators select their target, a young female, Nigel watches the hunt begin, as the hunters continuously bite and claw at the female while the herd continues their migration, leaving her behind, although one adult briefly attempts to defend her. Nigel continues to watch well into the evening, as the attack persists, with the Giganotosaurus trying to wear her down from blood loss. As the evening goes on, the cries of the dying Argentinosaurus can be heard all throughout the valley, and as the sun sets, the Giganotosaurus finally begin to bring her down. It is nearly too dark to film at that point, and Nigel states that for once he's happy about that, as the Argentinosaurus' distress calls were truly haunting him and he felt horrible that he could not intervene.

A young Argentinosaurus being attacked by a mob of Giganotosaurus

The next morning, Nigel regroups with the herd, who have finally reached the nesting site, and nearly trample a Sarcosuchus as they begin to drink. The Argentinosaurus finally begin to lay their eggs, with Nigel watching them from a distance. Nigel states that he felt so incredibly small as he stands next to the herd in a short post credits scene, moments before the hungry crocodilian charges from the water, jaws wide open.