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Maraapunisaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of western North America. Originally named Amphicoelias fragillimus, it has sometimes been estimated to be the largest dinosaur specimen ever discovered.
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Amphicoelias/Maraapunisaurus are genera of sauropod dinosaurs that lived in the Late Jurassic period, about 150 million years ago. They are both known from very incomplete fossils found in Colorado, USA. Amphicoelias was described diplodocid, a group of long-necked, whip-tailed herbivores. (For whatever reason) In 2018, Kenneth Carpenter renamed Amphicoelias fragillimus as the new genus Maraapunisaurus, and reclassified it from Diplodocidae to Rebbachisauridae.Maraapunisaurus is based on a single vertebra that was supposedly very large, measuring 2.7 meters (8.9 feet) in length. However, this vertebra was lost soon after its discovery, and only a sketch and some notes remain. Some estimates have suggested that Maraapunisaurus could have been the largest dinosaur ever, reaching up to 200 feet (61 meters) in length and 300 metric tons (330 short tons) in weight. However, these estimates have been challenged by typographical errors, biological plausibility, and rebbachisaurid anatomy. More recent estimates have reduced the size of Maraapunisaurus to about 35-40 meters (115-131 feet) long and 70-120 metric tons (77-132 short tons) in weight.