The world's largest dinosaur footprint believed to be from an extinct sauropod dinosaur called a Titanosaur has been uncovered in Mongolia's Gobi Desert by a team of researchers from Japan and Mongolia.

Working at a dig in the Gobi Desert, the researchers unearthed the footprint measuring one meter in length and 0.77 meter in width. The team consisted of experts from Okayama University of Science and the Center of Paleontology under the Mongolian Academy of Sciences.

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The rare discovery was made in August in a geologic layer formed 70 million to 90 million years ago in the late Cretaceous Period, said the researchers. Shinobu Ishigaki, a paleontology professor at Okayama University, said the team is searching the area for dinosaur remains.

Similar-sized footprints have been found in Morocco and France. But this one has the clearest signs of nails.

"This is a very rare discovery as it's a well-preserved fossil footprint that is more than a meter long with imprints of its claws," said the statement issued by Okayama University.

Titanosaurs had the longest necks among all the dinosaur species that inhabited the earth.

Sauropods, of which the Titanosaur is one, had very long necks, long tails, small heads relative to the rest of their body and four thick, pillar-like legs. They are notable for the enormous sizes attained by some species.

The group includes the largest animals to have ever lived on land. Well-known genera include Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus, Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus

Titanosaurs were the last surviving group of long necked dinosaurs during extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous period. It includes some of the heaviest creatures ever to walk the earth such as Argentinosaurus and Puertasaurus, estimated to have weighed up to 90 metric tons.

Titanosaurs lived on all continents of prehistoric earth. Fossils of this beast have been discovered in Antarctica, Italy, Australia and New Zealand.

Tagsdinosaur footprint, Titanosaur, sauropod, Gobi Desert, Okayama University of Science