Mongolian Titan

## Mongolian TitanIndeterminate Species

Only known from footprints called "Brontopodus" (Thunder Foot)

***“ The Mongolian Titan. They are colossal, weighing over 70 tonnes, they are among the biggest animals to have ever walked the Earth. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Deserts*
Present on Prehistoric Planet is an **unnamed titanosaur** sauropod (referred to on the show as the "Mongolian Titan") that lived in the Nemegt Formation, Mongolia, 70 million years ago, during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period.

## Description

### Size and Physique

Only known from footprints, the Mongolian Titan is stated on the show as possessing a mass of around 70 metric tons (77 short tons), it weighs almost as much as *Argentinosaurus*, which is consistently estimated to weigh around 75 - 80 metric tons, or 83 - 88 short tons. As of the time of its appearance, it was the biggest animal ever featured on Prehistoric Planet, only eventually surpassed by *Alamosaurus* in North America, which brings up its maximum weight estimate of 80 metric tons (88 short tons).

The Mongolian Titan's sole evidence of existence are sauropod tracks labeled as "Brontopodus" (Thunder Foot), not to be confused for the identically-named footprint of a Late Jurassic diplodocid that lived in North America (likely *Dyslocosaurus*). These tracks are believed to come from an animal that exceeds the size any creature known from the Nemegt Formation, including the area's two known titanosaurs, *Nemegtosaurus* and *Opisthocoelicaudia*, which has a foot that resembles the FS40 "Brontopodus" track.

### Prehistoric Planet's Depiction

Prehistoric Planet depicts the Mongolian Titan as a mostly-brown animal with a gray underside and striped face that is separated from their light brown back and muzzle with dark brown stripes. Its color scheme comes in earthly tones fit for a desert-dweller.

## Habitat

*Main: Nemegt Formation*

Main: Nemegt Formation

The Mongolian Titan lived 70 million years ago in the Nemegt Formation, an area that would one day become the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. The formation shows evidence of a rich, humid environment with large river channels, tidal flats, and forests. However, the area is also known to have undergone periodic droughts, and there is precedence for arid regions much like the Gobi Desert today existing in Mongolia during those times, thus justifying the depiction of Mongolian Titan living in or at least traveling through a vast desert environment, with a color scheme of earthly tones fit for desert-dwelling animals.

## Behavior

***“ Long-necked Nemegtosaurs are joined by Mongolian titanosaurs. And with them, much smaller Prenocephale. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Deserts*
As with most sauropods, the Mongolian Titan is shown exhibiting herding behavior, grouping not only with themselves, but also with smaller titanosaurs like *Nemegtosaurus*. Even smaller animals, like *Prenocephale*, may also choose to travel alongside these behemoths for protection (at the small risk of being trampled underfoot). Given their size, they likely require a lot of sustenance to sustain their massive bodies, hence, in both their appearances on Prehistoric Planet, the Mongolian Titans are shown seeking out great sources of water, even if it means traveling vast distances and navigating through narrow canyon mazes that are barely wide enough for them (where, despite their size, even titanosaurs as big as them are left wary of danger, as shown when a herd of them end up panicking and stampeding due to the mere presence of a trio of *Tarbosaurus* in Badlands).

## Appearances

### Deserts

***“ Open water attracts desert animals of every kind from many miles away. Some dwarf everyone else. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Deserts*
In the fourth segment of Deserts, a temporary oasis attracts several animals from many miles around, including a herd of Mongolian Titans. They provide a hazard for tiny animals like *Mononykus*, a few of which are shown quickly running and weaving past their feet. With their great sizes and necks, these massive titanosaurs are able to drink water from the oasis and skip the animals around and in front of them, eliciting some curious stares from some of those closest to the gigantic sauropods.

### Badlands

In the second segment of Badlands, beyond a maze of canyons where a family of *Velociraptors* reside, a temporary oasis has formed. The presence of this watering hole attracts a herd of Mongolian Titans, *Nemegtosaurus*, and *Prenocephale*. As they navigate their way through the maze of canyons, an obstacle in their path to satiating their thirst, the herd ends up sensing the presence of large predators, worrying even the Mongolian Titans, with two individuals accidentally swinging their necks against each other. Soon, the hunters, a trio of *Tarbosauruses*, make themselves known, causing the entire herd to panic and stampede (with one *Nemegtosaurus* stepping off a low ledge, causing it to fall and die in the process). With the protection provided by the titanosaurs now a hazard for them, the *Prenocephale* run up the canyon's steep walls, where they, now no longer under the protection provided by the presence of the sauropods, are ambushed by the *Velociraptors*, which successfully ambush and kick one of the pachycephalosaurs off a cliff. Eventually, the herd has left the canyon maze, leaving behind a *Nemegtosaurus* that fell and died during the stampede. The frantic travel, though not too disastrous for the herbivores, did leave feeding opportunities for the carnivores, with the *Tarbosaurus* trio feeding on the fallen *Nemegtosaurus* and the *Velociraptor* family feasting on the freshly-slain *Prenocephale*.

## Trivia

It is unknown how exactly dinosaurs drank water. Prehistoric Planet chose to depict various types of dinosaur drinking water in different ways, with sauropods like the *Nemegtosaurus* and Mongolian Titan shown simply sucking up water in the fourth segments of Deserts, using their great size and long necks to simply drink water bypass the other animals around and in front of them. By contrast, hadrosaurs like *Barsboldia* are shown lapping up water with their tongues, while theropods like *Mononykus*, *Therizinosaurus*, and *Tarbosaurus* are depicted as scooping up water with their lower jaws.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 As stated in Deserts
2. ↑ Determining the largest known land animal: A critical comparison of differing methods for restoring the volume and mass of extinct animals
3. ↑ The accuracy and precision of body mass estimation in non-avian dinosaurs
4. ↑ Body mass estimate of *Bruhathkayosaurus* and other fragmentary sauropod remains suggest the largest land animals were about as big as the greatest whales
5. ↑ As stated in North America
6. ↑ Dinosaur Footprints from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia
7. ↑ A giant sauropod footprint from the Nemegt Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of Mongolia