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Digging History

Huge titanosaur makes American Museum of Natural History debut

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Titanosaur on display at American Museum of Natural History Video

Titanosaur on display at American Museum of Natural History

Gigantic 122-foot-long cast too large for museum's gallery

The American Museum of Natural History in New York has unveiled a new gigantic dinosaur exhibit, squeezing a 122-foot-long titanosaur cast into the famous building.

The dinosaur, which has not yet been formally named, was unveiled Thursday. Paleontologists think that that the giant herbivore weighed in at around 70 tons – as much as 10 African elephants. The titanosaur is too large even for the museum’s gallery, with part of its 39-foot neck extending out towards the building’s elevator banks.

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The skeleton’s ‘bones’ are lightweight 3D prints made of fibreglass.

The huge cast was built over six months by Ontario, Canada-based Research Casting International and Argentina’s Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio. The titanosaur is based on 84 fossil bones that were excavated in the remote Argentine region of Patagonia in 2014. Scientists have discovered a total of 223 fossil bones from six individuals at the site, according to the American Museum of Natural History, including a colossal 8-foot femur.

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The paleontologists were told about the site by a local rancher in 2012, and made several trips there over the next 18 months.

Fossils from the original discovery on temporary display with the titanosaur cast include the femur and forelimb.

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“We are pleased to present this awe-inspiring exhibit as yet another icon in an inspiring journey of discovery that the Museum offers throughout its galleries,” said American Museum of Natural History President Ellen Futter, in a statement. “While the titanosaur itself is ancient, it  nevertheless embodies and reflects the very modern, dynamic, and thrilling state of paleontology today.”