Scientists in France unearth 400kg dinosaur bone likely belonging to largest land animal to ever roam the earth

The thigh bone, dated about 140 million years old, is the latest discovery at the site near Bordeaux

Scientists say the femur probably belonged to a sauropod – a plant-eating dinosaur which was the largest land animal to walk the earth

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Maxime Lasseron inspects the femur of a sauropod on July 24 after it was discovered earlier in the week during excavations at the palaeontological site of Angeac-Charente, France. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:00am, 30 Jul 2019Updated: 5:36am, 30 Jul 2019

Scientists have unearthed a huge two-metre (6.5-foot) dinosaur bone in a wine-growing village in southwestern France dubbed a “national treasure” for its prehistoric gems.

The 140-million-year-old thigh bone, which weighs 400kg (882 pounds), is the latest discovery at the vast Angeac-Charente palaeontological site near Bordeaux, where experts and volunteers have dug up thousands of bones over the past decade.

But thanks to its remarkably good condition, the femur could help piece together an incomplete set of bones which the latest find resembles.

“We were wondering how big it was. We kept saying, ‘Oh, there’s more!’” said Maxime Lasseron, the doctoral student who made the gigantic discovery.

The 140-million-year-old femur of a sauropod weighs as much as an adult donkey or crocodile. Photo: AFP

The thigh bone, which weighs about as much as an adult donkey or crocodile, likely belonged to a gigantic sauropod, scientists said.