Move over, T. rex, as the world's largest dinosaur known as the Titanosaur was unveiled at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, as paleontologists presented their amazing discovery to the media and public Thrusday morning.
This skeleton of the new species of Titanosaur are apparently made from fiberglass recreations since the fossil remnants are too heavy and cumbersome to mount in the museum, measuring 122 feet long, making it too big to fit everything inside the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Orientation Center, which is the museum's biggest display rooms. In fact, it is too large that the dinosaur's neck and head will be peeking out to the next room, at 9.5 feet.
This particular Titanosaur was discovered in Patagonia, Argentina by researchers from Argentina's Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, however, its official name has not yet been released. Since this study is still awaiting publication, this dinosaur will be known for its catalog number, 32893, according to the chair of paleontology at the museum, Mark Norrell, referring to it like all the other dinosaurs in his collection.
According to lead paleontologist, Diego Pol who is part of the team that discovered the Titanosaur, the team wanted to give honor to the place and family that hosted them during field study, as the remains were found in a desert near La Flecha, Patagonia.
Their discovery came from a local farmer who caught a glimpse of a small part of femur that was exposed from the ground. For several days, the team was able to fully dig out the entire femur that was estimated to be as big as a living room couch.
From this site, the team discovered a total of six dinosaurs that were all from this new species of the Titanosaur family, where Pol likened to the site to a dinosaur cemetery. In the course of 18 months, several expeditions were carried out in order to excavate 223 bones as a new road was also built to accommodate large equipment and trucks needed.
However, the skeleton cast that is on display at the museum only has 84 fossil bones from one specimen which was only a teenager when it mysteriously died. Norrell adds that installing this massive dinosaur inside its new home was a definite challenge as the skeleton only managed to fit inside vertically, since the roof is only 19.4 feet high where the dinosaur's back can reach up to 19.2 feet.
Scientists believe that this colossal plant eating dinosaur could reach up to 70 tons, some 10 times the weight of an average T. rex or an African elephant. If its neck was stretched out, the Titanosaur is estimated to reach five stories high.