Dinosaur of the day - October 16, 2007
A massive new dinosaur has been unveiled by South American scientists. Futalognkosaurus dukei, a type of titanosaur, is estimated by its discoverers to be between 32 and 34 metres in length. “This is one of the biggest in the world and one of the most complete of these giants [the titanosaurs] that exist,” Jorge Calvo, director of the palaeontology centre at the National University of Comahue in Argentina, told reporters (AP, AP again, AFP). This particular herbivore’s size doesn’t appear to have helped it survive though – there are signs the giant had been eaten by predators (BBC).
Around 70% of the skeleton has been recovered. Jeff Wilson, palaeontologist at the University of Michigan, reviewed the findings. “I should really try to underscore how incredible it is to have partial skeleton of something this size. With these kind of bones you can’t study them by moving them around on the table; you have to move around them yourself,” he told AP.
In the latest issue of the Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, Calvo and colleagues describe their findings at a site in the north of Patagonia (full text, PDF). In half a metre of one quarry they not only found Futalognkosaurus but also located other dinosaurs, fish, flying dinosaurs called pterosaurs and prehistoric crocodiles.
However it is the monstrous Titanosaur that is getting all the attention. Its name is a combination of the Mapuche indigenous language words Futa (giant) and lognko (chief), the Greek saurus (lizard), and dukei after the company that sponsored the research, Duke Energy Argentina. So the name means something like Giant Chief of the Lizards and CEO of Duke Energy.
