Massive 1,100-pound bone of ‘world’s biggest dinosaur’ found

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Massive 1,100-pound bone of 'world's biggest dinosaur' found

The femur of a Sauropod, which is over 140 million years old, 6.5 feet in length and weighing 1,100 pounds, has been unearthed by paleontologists in Charente, France. It is 'very rare' to find fossils this size, according to scientists, as they usually collapse on themselves and break up into fragments. It's unclear exactly what sauropod the bone belongs to just yet, but the group includes brachiosaurus and brontosaurus, seen famously in 'Jurassic Park.'

Now, this is one bone you don't want to pick with.

Paleontologists have unearthed a 140-million-year-old dinosaur bone, 6.5 feet in length, weighing 1,100 pounds in France. The thigh bone was discovered in Charente, an area that dates back 140 million years and has been a treasure trove for researchers in the past.

“This is a major discovery,” Ronan Allain, a paleontologist at the National History Museum of Paris said in an interview with Reuters. “I was especially amazed by the state of preservation of that femur.”

The femur of a Sauropod, which is over 140 million years old, 6.5 feet in length and weighing 1,100 pounds, is seen in situ on a bed of clay on July 24, 2019, after it was discovered earlier in the week during excavations at the palaeontological site of Angeac-Charente, near Châteauneuf-sur- Charente, southwestern France. The Jurassic period Sauropod, the largest herbivorous dinosaur known to date, was discovered nestled in a thick layer of clay by a team of volunteer excavators from the National Museum of Natural History working at the palaeontological site. Other bones from the animal's pelvis were also unearthed. (Credit: GEORGES GOBET/AFP/Getty Images)

MYSTERIOUS NEW LIZARD FOUND INSIDE 125-MILLION-YEAR-OLD FLYING DINOSAUR

“These are animals that probably weighed 40 to 50 tons," Allain added.

More than 7,500 fossils have been found in Charente since 2010, including those from 40 different species. It's unclear exactly what sauropod the bone belongs to just yet, but the group includes brachiosaurus and brontosaurus, seen famously in "Jurassic Park."

"This femur is huge! And in an exceptional state of conservation," Angouleme Museum curator Jean-François Tournepiche told The Local.

Allain added that it is "very rare" to find fossils this size, as they usually collapse on themselves and break up into fragments.

Maxime Lasseron, who is researching his doctorate at the National Museum of Natural History of Paris, inspects the femur of a Sauropod on July 24, 2019, after it was discovered earlier in the week during excavations at the palaeontological site of Angeac-Charente, near Châteauneuf-sur- Charente, south western France.  (Credit: GEORGES GOBET/AFP/Getty Images)

The giant sauropod femur is not the only dinosaur discovery to make headlines this week. In the badlands of North Dakota, a California college student found the 65-million-year-old fossil of a partial Triceratops skull among plant fossils from the Cretaceous period.

USA Today reported that the skull was found in the Hell's Creek formation, which spans Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

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Fox News' Frank Miles contributed to this report.