Dreadnoughtus

## DreadnoughtusFears Nothing

### Temporal Range

76 - 70 million years ago, Campanian - Maastrichtian Stage, Late Cretaceous Period

### Episodes

* Deserts (Segment 1)
* Were Dinosaurs Good Parents? (Cameo)
* How Did Dinosaurs Get So Big?

## Characteristics

### Weight

40 - 50 metric tons (44.1 - 55 short tons)

### Diet

Herbivore

 **Main** Segments

MainSegments

***“ Dreadnoughtus. Titanosaurs 85 feet long, and weighing 40 tonnes. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Deserts*
***Dreadnoughtus*** (named after the "dreadnoughts", massive, powerful battleships that dominated the early 20th century, which in turn have a name that means "Fears Nothing") is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur that lived in the Cerro Fortaleza Formation, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, 76 - 70 million years ago, from the Campanian to the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period.

## Description

### Size and Physique

*Dreadnoughtus* is a large titanosaur, at least 12 meters (40 feet) tall, 26 meters (85 feet) long, and weighing 40 - 50 metric tons (44.1 - 55 short tons), however, this does not make it one of the largest (a slightly larger titanosaur, *Puertasaurus*, is known to live in the same formation as *Dreadnoughtus*).

### Tail Keel

One peculiar feature the animal has is a ridge known as a "keel" on the underside of the first vertebra of its tail, a feature that can be prominently seen on the show. This is interpreted as a hump for storing fat, mirroring how monitor lizards store fat by the base of their tail much like how camels accumulate reserve fat in their back hump, a source of energy for times when food is scarce, which is usually the case in arid conditions like those of deserts.

### Prehistoric Planet's Depiction

*Main: *Dreadnoughtus* on Prehistoric Planet*

Main: *Dreadnoughtus* on Prehistoric Planet

***“ The titanosaurs' immense necks are supported by an ultra-lightweight air-filled skeleton. Their hollow neck bones are connected to a series of bellows that inflate bizarre gular air sacs. Those males with the most impressive displays will attract the most females. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Deserts*
On Prehistoric Planet, *Dreadnoughtuses* are depicted with a dull greyish-brown color and cream-coloured undersides, providing them countershading (which many animals, predator and prey alike, use to enhance their camouflage), though, given their massive sizes, it is likely a design choice left over from their ancestors, or camouflage that helped them as juveniles, and simply stuck until adulthood, even though they wouldn't really need it much.

For males, portions of their neck and head are highlighted by vibrant patches of red (as opposed to the females, which have simpler gray patches on their heads), and, more notably, they possess inflatable orange-colored air sacs on either side of their necks, impressive displays to intimidate rival males and attract females. Their bodies are bulky and layered with muscle and fat, in contrast with their relatively short legs. Each of their pillar-like front feet have a single dagger-like "thumb" claw, while their back feet are broad and turtle-like with three claws.

*Dreadnoughtus* is the main focus of the first segment of Deserts, showing a grueling duel between an old male and a younger challenger during the mating season. Footage of the species and other titanosaurs in the series is used in the Prehistoric Planet: Uncovered segment, "How Did Dinosaurs Get So Big?", which is dedicated to how dinosaurs grew bigger than most land animals in Earth's history. Footage of *Dreadnoughtus* is also briefly used for another Prehistoric Planet: Uncovered segment, "Were Dinosaurs Good Parents?", though it is only used there because, as a sauropod, it likely laid eggs the same way *Isisaurus* does, and is overall irrelevant to the topic of the segment since its sole appearance on the show was about the titanosaur's violent nature during the mating season, not parenthood.

## Habitat

***“ The west of South America, and one of the most desolate places on this Prehistoric Planet. Few animals venture here, yet it is the stage for one of the most extraordinary gatherings on Earth. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Deserts*
*Dreadnoughtus* lived 76 - 70 million years ago in the Cerro Fortaleza Formation, an area that would one day become part of the Santa Cruz Province of Argentina. During its time, the area would have been a fluvial region, with geological formations shaped by the action of rivers and streams. *Dreadnoughtus* normally resides in "rich forest feeding grounds". For competition and display, however, they need large, open areas, and the nearby desert, just within walking distance (though a few miles away, the trip seems relatively short enough for the titanosaurs), is the perfect stage for these purposes.

## Behavior

### Mating and Intimidation Display

***“ These are all males, and they're many miles from their rich forest feeding grounds. They come here for only one reason, to fight for the chance to mate. Crowds of females scrutinize the newly-arriving males, assessing their strength and suitability. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Deserts*
The exact behavior of *Dreadnoughtus* is unknown. However, they appear to have customs based on those of elephants, with a bachelor group of males traveling out to impress a group of females. It is unknown if these males regularly live in herds, or otherwise lead solitary lives past the mating season. They mostly rely on their gular air sacs to intimidate rival males and attract females, but should this fail, the males readily move on to physical blows.

### Agonistic Behavior

The fighting style of *Dreadnoughtus* appears to be based on those of monitor lizards (which rear up and wrestle in an attempt to push their enemy back), giraffes (as shown by the neck swinging) and elephant seals (as shown by how the titanosaurs collide, push, and even attempt to bite each other during battle). The *Dreadnoughtus* were shown rearing up several times and even slowly walking on two legs (while leaning and pushing against an enemy) because, despite their size, titanosaurs were relatively agile due to features like wide hips to support and spread out their weight, strongly-muscled hind limbs, muscular tails robust enough to serve as a third leg when rearing up, front halves that are deceptively light due to being greatly pneumatized (with this pneumatization also serving another purpose in the show as justification for the orange air sacs used for display), and other such adaptations.

***“ Lifting up such a huge body is exhausting. It's a battle of endurance. As the conflict intensifies, each fighter tries to wound the other, stabbing with dagger-like spikes on each thumb, and raking the skin with their teeth. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Deserts*
The titanosaurs were also shown resorting to rougher methods the longer their battle goes, stabbing the enemy with their thumb claws and even attempting to bite each other (for most animals, even herbivores, would eventually resort to using their jaws in fights, even if their teeth and bite forces are not suited for doing so).

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 As stated in Deserts
2. ↑ Drexel Team Unveils *Dreadnoughtus*: A Gigantic, Exceptionally Complete Sauropod Dinosaur
3. ↑ Reddit AMA with the showrunners of Prehistoric Planet confirming the inspiration behind the hump on the tail of *Dreadnoughtus*
4. ↑ David Krentz, one of the designers who worked on Prehistoric Planet Season 1, says that "The hump on the base of the tail was fat storage".
5. ↑ Naish, Darren (@TetZoo) (May 26, 2022) on Twitter, regarding the presence of deserts near *Dreadnoughtus*.
6. ↑ Naish, Darren (@TetZoo) (May 26, 2022) on Twitter, regarding the agility of *Dreadnoughtus*.