Attenborough and the Giant Elephant (2017) Plot Summary Explained

A ridge on the back of one of the recovered vertebrae, together with several other distinctive anatomical features, convinced the research team that the fossils belonged to a species new to science. Although the animal was not formally named in the documentary, it was later scientifically described as Patagotitan mayorum in 2017, cementing Patagonia's reputation as a land of prehistoric giants.

Foreshadowing: Early in the excavation, the team already suspected the bones were unusually large, hinting that they belonged to an animal unlike anything previously catalogued.

• new species
• titanosaur
• Patagotitan mayorum
• vertebrae
• paleontological discovery

Because no skull had been recovered by the end of filming, the team selected the most likely of the three known titanosaur skulls as the basis for the reconstruction. Their choice was guided by a single titanosaur tooth found at the site, which helped narrow down the closest match among the limited skull specimens available.

• titanosaur skull
• skull reconstruction
• titanosaur tooth
• computer modelling

A total of 223 bones from seven different individuals were recovered on three separate geological levels at La Flecha Farm. These distinct layers indicate that titanosaurs were deposited at the location on three separate occasions rather than all at once, suggesting recurring environmental events drew animals to the same spot over an extended period.

Foreshadowing: At the start of the dig, the team assumed all the remains came from a single individual, only gradually realising the true scale of the find.

• seven individuals
• La Flecha
• fossil site
• bone layers
• titanosaur discovery

The documentary presents three competing theories for the repeated deaths. The titanosaurs may have perished at water pools that later dried up, leaving them stranded without water. A second possibility is that local rivers were too small to wash the carcasses into the site, meaning the animals simply died where they were found. A third theory points to nearby volcanic eruptions that either killed the animals directly or wiped out the vegetation they relied on for food.

• titanosaur extinction
• volcanic eruption
• drought theory
• fossil deposit mystery

Based on a 2.4-metre-long femur and a humerus with a 79-centimetre circumference at the shaft, the team estimated the animal at roughly 37 metres long and around 70 metric tons in weight. These measurements already suggested a creature larger than Argentinosaurus, and the finished replica revealed the individual was still not fully grown, leading them to conclude the species was about 10% bigger than Argentinosaurus overall.

• titanosaur size
• Argentinosaurus
• femur measurement
• biggest dinosaur
• Patagotitan

Researchers turned to living animals for clues about locomotion. At Whipsnade Zoo, Professor John Hutchinson studied the gait of elephants, the largest living land animals, to model how the titanosaur might have moved, while Attenborough watched giraffes to understand how a long neck enables high browsing. The 3D scan data was also used to build a computer model of posture and gait, and Ben Garrod joined the team in Argentina alongside Komodo dragons to help illustrate how the titanosaur may have balanced and used its heavy tail.

• titanosaur movement
• elephant gait
• computer model
• dinosaur locomotion
• Komodo dragon

Auca Mahuevo, located 800 kilometres north of the excavation site, is the largest known dinosaur nesting ground in the world. The visit provided crucial context for titanosaur reproduction, with nests and embryos preserved across several kilometres. Four separate layers of eggs showed that the dinosaurs returned to the same nesting area repeatedly over time, while fossils at the Museo Carmen Funes revealed mineralised baby dinosaur skin and even unhatched limb bones and skulls.

• Auca Mahuevo
• dinosaur nesting site
• fossil eggs
• titanosaur reproduction

Dating from 101.6 million years ago in the Cretaceous period, the titanosaur fed on cycads, ferns, and conifers, all fibrous, hard-to-digest, and low-nutrient plants. A living descendant of those ancient conifers, the monkey puzzle tree, still grows over 40 metres tall at the foot of the Andes, a height that only the long-necked titanosaur could reach to browse.

• titanosaur diet
• Cretaceous plants
• monkey puzzle tree
• sauropod feeding

After excavation, each fragile bone was wrapped in wet toilet paper and encased in plaster of Paris to protect it from damage. A specially constructed road was then built out of the site so the heavy, plaster-jacketed fossils could be hauled out safely without breaking, before being transported to the Museum of Paleontology Egidio Feruglio for preparation.

• fossil transport
• excavation logistics
• plaster jacket
• La Flecha
• Museum of Paleontology Egidio Feruglio

Dr Diego Pol explains that titanosaur skulls were very delicate bones held together by light sutures, making them unlikely to survive the fossilisation process. As a result, very few titanosaur skulls are known to science, which forced the reconstruction team to rely on the most likely candidate drawn from the small pool of existing specimens.

• titanosaur skull fossilization
• delicate bones
• sutures
• paleontological preservation

The finished life-size replica revealed that the individual excavated at La Flecha was still not fully grown at the time of death. This meant that mature adults of the species would have been even larger, which led the scientists to conclude the animal was roughly 10% bigger than Argentinosaurus, making it one of the largest land animals ever to walk the Earth.

• dinosaur growth
• Argentinosaurus comparison
• juvenile titanosaur
• largest dinosaur

More than 80 teeth from the carnivorous carcharodontosaurid Tyrannotitan chubutensis were recovered from the La Flecha site, and one titanosaur tail vertebra bore marks that could have been made by this giant predator. The evidence does not make it clear whether Tyrannotitan was actively hunting the titanosaurs or simply scavenging their remains, but it confirms a direct interaction between the two Cretaceous species.

• Tyrannotitan chubutensis
• predator marks
• scavenging
• hunting
• carcharodontosaurid