Monster Monday: Titanosaur, the Biggest Dinosaur Ever

Today's Monster Monday is the titanosaur, a mindbogglingly tremendous sauropod dinosaur. The titanosaurs were actually a group of many sauropod species, the largest of which were also the largest dinosaurs ever and the longest and heaviest land animals ever to walk the earth.

by ДиБгд, via Wikimedia

A life-restoration of the titanosaur ampelosaurus atacis, shown with spiky osteoderms along its spine

One of the cool things that makes titanosaurs stand out from your more well-known sauropods like brachiosaurus, diplodocus, or apatosaurus is that many titanosaurs had osteoderms - large bony plates embedded in their skin. These plates may have acted as additional armor for these already formidable beasts, and some (such as ampelosaurus, above) even had spikes. The ampelosaurus above shows a conservative distribution of osteoderms, but the diamentinasaurus illustrated below is depicted as rather more well-armored.

by T. Tischler, Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History, via Wikimedia

Life-restoration of diamentinasaurus matildae, showing one possible level of titanosaurid osteoderm distribution

What's in a name? Translating a real-world monster, whether mythological or real, into a fantasy world can be difficult, especially when they are saddled with a name that instantly ties them to our world. With many classic dinosaurs, this isn't so much of a problem. Household names like tyrannosaurus and velociraptor, while clearly grounded in our world's scientific Greco-Latin naming conventions, seem to fit in relatively easily to a fantasy world alongside dragons, chimerae, and basilisks. Equally interesting but more newly discovered animals often have names that stand out like a sore thumb, either because they are overly long and complicated or because they specifically reference a real-world name or place. Titanosaur names like argentinosaurus, aegyptosaurus, or isisaurus (named after the Indian Statistical Institute) do not lend themselves to a fantasy world's immersion.

The monster statted up below is an argentinosaurus, by many estimates the largest of the titanosaurs. I chose to call it, simply, titanosaur, a rather generic name which can cover many species (including the horse-sized magyarosaurus). Identifying this monster by its scientific clade is akin to naming the stat block for tyrannosaurus 'coelurosaur'. Still, I thought it was better than identifying it with the real-world nation of Argentina, or calling it 'titanosaurus', which, despite lending its name to the titanosaurids, is a much smaller titanosaur than argentinosaurus (13 tons compared to argentinosaurus' 70-100 tons) and is now usually considered to be a nomen dubium - a name or classification unsupported by current science.

Also, it is important to remember that paleoart is often minimalist, omitting many potential features of a dinosaur that are not preserved in the fossil record. More adventurous paleoartists like to go out on a limb with their reconstructions, giving them interesting features that, while not necessarily supported by the fossil record, are also not disproven by the fossil record and thus may rest within the realm of possibility (I call this the Air Bud approach to paleoart, i.e. "There's no rule saying dogs can't play basketball"). This type of paleoart emphasizes naturalism, showing prehistoric animals in all the variety of coloration, integument, and behavior as other animals we are more familiar with. This often breathes new life into depictions of prehistoric animals, and generates renewed public interest in paleoart. With that in mind, here is another titanosaur illustration that would certainly make an impression in a fantasy world.

by Danny Cicchetti, via Wikimedia

A be-striped, be-quilled, and be-dewlapped life-restoration of the titanosaur overosaurus paradasorum

The following text in gold is available as Open Game Content under the OGL. Open Game Content is ©2017 Jonah Bomgaars.

This tremendous long-necked reptile shakes the earth with every step; its immense body is armored with dozens of bony plates

Titanosaur                 CR 14

XP 38,400

N Colossal animal

Init +4; Senses low-light vision; Perception +32

DEFENSE

AC 27, touch 2, flat-footed 27 (-8 size, +25 natural)

hp 276 (24d8+168)

Fort +23, Ref +14, Will +12

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft.

Melee 2 slams +25 (4d6+15), tail slap +23 (4d6+7)

Space 30 ft.; Reach 60 ft.

Special Attacks seismic stomp (DC 37), trample (4d6+22, DC 37)

STATISTICS

Str 40, Dex 10, Con 24, Int 2, Wis 15, Cha 12

Base Atk +18; CMB +41 (+43 bull rush); CMD 57 (59 vs. bull rush, 61 vs. trip)

Feats Awesome Blow, Critical Focus, Defensive Combat Training, Great Fortitude, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Multiattack, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Perception), Staggering Critical, Stunning Critical

Skills Perception +32

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Seismic Stomp (Ex)

A titanosaur can rear up on its hind legs and bring its forelegs down in an earth-shaking stomp, creating a shockwave that can knock nearby creatures prone. Any Huge or smaller creatures within 20 feet of the titanosaur when it uses this ability must make a DC 37 Reflex save or be knocked prone. Creatures gain a +4 bonus to their Reflex saves for each pair of legs they have beyond two. Seismic stomp is a full-round action. The save DC is Strength-based.

ECOLOGY

Environment any plains

Organization solitary, pair, herd (6-24; 25% juveniles)

Treasure none

Titanosaurs are some of the largest land animals to ever exist. They are massive sauropod dinosaurs – quadrupedal, warm-blooded reptiles with long tails and long necks. They spend nearly all day grazing on every plant they can find, from trees to grasses. Titanosaurs are thicker and heavier and have a wider stance than whip-tailed diplodocus, and they are more flexible and more able to rear up on their hind legs than the tall brachiosaurus. These immense animals are so large that only the biggest and most ferocious predators can hope to take them down: giganotosauruses and dragons are their natural predators. Even so, they have the added protection of many hard, bony plates embedded in their thick hide. Titanosaurs move in family herds of dozens of individuals, thundering across the landscape and devouring its vegetation. The migratory herds converge yearly at nesting grounds where hundreds of individuals lay clutches of eggs and guard them from predators.

Smaller Titanosaurs

The statistics presented here are for the largest species of titanosaurs, reaching 80-120 feet long and weighing up to 90 tons. Smaller species of titanosaur exist as well, including the Huge-sized saltasaurus and the Large-sized, island-dwelling dwarf titanosaur.

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Plot Hooks and Encounter Ideas

• A vampiric giganotosaurus has been turning its prey into shambling dinosaur zombies, and now a herd of zombie titanosaurs is heading straight for town!
• A wizard experimenting with reincarnating long-dead creatures from their fossilized bones has finally succeeded! The only problem: now a terrified and gigantic titanosaur is rampaging through the city's market quarter. The wizard is willing to pay a lot of gold for someone to calm it down and lead it safely out of the city, but the city guard and the merchants' consortium want it dead now.
• The ancient black dragon has been dead for decades, but even in death its curse still lays on these lands in the form of its many half-dragon offspring. The most recent reminder of the black dragon's strange proclivities is a half-dragon titanosaur that threatens to become an even greater terror than the dragon itself!
• For decades, the high-walled city of Fortissima has repelled the attacks of the dinosaur riders. But now, rumors are circulating that a great war chief of the dinosaur riders has tamed a massive beast that can breach even the walls of Fortissima.
• Gorug the Hungry, who regularly breakfasts on elephants, says he will let the captives go if the adventurers can find and kill an animal so large that Gorug cannot eat it in one day. 

-your be-dewlapped d20 despot (nomen dubium)