Amazing answers to your curious questions

What was the largest herbivore in the time of the dinosaurs?

William Borde

The largest dinosaur herbivore – and the largest herbivore of all time – was a sauropod named Argentinosaurus. As the name suggests, its remains have been found only in Argentina. No complete skeleton has ever been discovered, but individual backbones from Argentinosaurus are over 1.5 metres tall – taller than many adult humans. It has been estimated that a fully grown Argentinosaurus would have weighed over 70 tonnes, more than ten fully grown African elephants. Several ideas have been proposed to suggest why sauropods got so large, including the need for very large digestive systems to deal with tough, fibrous plant food.

WHICH METAL HAS THE HIGHEST MELTING POINT?

Lei Smith

Tungsten, often referred to as wolfram in other parts of the world, has the highest melting point of any metal. Extracted from wolframite, scheelite and other minerals, it is a grey-white metallic element and is incredibly dense and extremely hard. In fact, it is the second-hardest material – only beaten by diamond – has a greater density than lead and does not break down or decompose, meaning it’s also environmentally friendly. This range of properties means that tungsten is used in many industries and products, from highspeed cutting tools and jet turbine engines to shotgun ammunition and fishing weights.

WHAT IS BRITAIN’S LARGEST LIZARD?

John Kay

Britain is home to three native species of lizard: common lizards (Zootoca vivipara), sand lizards (Lacerta agilis) and slow worms (Anguis fragilis). The longest is the slow worm, which can reach up to 50 centimetres in length – it’s sometimes mistaken for a snake, as it has no legs. They are distributed across Britain and are often found in gardens, particularly in compost heaps or under logs. Despite being widespread, they are protected by law.