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Huge new dinosaur species found in Argentina

reuters.com — RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian and Argentine paleontologists have discovered the largely complete fossil of a new species of giant dinosaur which roamed what is now northern Patagonia about 80 million years ago. The herbivorous Futalognkosauru...

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  • DukeMojo, on 10/16/2007, -16/+42God put those there to test our faith! /BillHicks
  • wilkil69, on 10/16/2007, -6/+1Jeez that is a humongous dinosaur. How do you even say its name? Cool find though.
  • Moseycd, on 10/16/2007, -7/+2It must be the Piltdownasaurus!
  • DannySpace, on 10/16/2007, -5/+2Who the hell names these things? And, how can I get that job?
  • Subvexer, on 10/16/2007, -9/+3Thank Jebus!
  • InfinitySnatch, on 10/30/2007, -0/+41It's always seems more boring when it's not a carnivore.
    • unorginalityftw, on 10/17/2007, -0/+7Well yeah, I mean, carnivore dinosaurs essentially tear and rip everything to death = cool.
    • Shadowdev, on 10/17/2007, -0/+2SEEMS more boring?? Hell I didn't even digg the story for the fact that it isn't a carnivore. If I can't have dreams of riding it around to eat all the people I hate then its not a dinosaur I want to be involved with.
  • funkytommyman, on 10/16/2007, -1/+4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanosaur
  • mikeylopez, on 10/16/2007, -10/+10Jesus Horses.
  • Encablossa, on 10/16/2007, -3/+17Que the overly repetitive anti religion quotes...
    • Encablossa, on 10/16/2007, -3/+4Cue*
    • Mononuclear, on 10/16/2007, -1/+5Que dijiste? Creo que querias decir "Queue" pero como dijo Encalbossa, la palabra correcta es "Cue"
      • Encablossa, on 10/16/2007, -1/+3Grammar Police: You misspelled 'Encablossa'
  • FreakyD, on 10/17/2007, -10/+12Why can't they give them cool names.


    like OMFGHUGEASAURUSCOME2EATYOCHILDREN!1!!!!111!!!!111
    • nekochan, on 10/17/2007, -0/+22i'd be happy with just an omgwtfadon.
  • KingBunny, on 10/16/2007, -12/+4Maybe God really did put them there.. to test the logical brains he gave us. (You know, the ones that need evidence to form conclusions.)

    PS: "Re-animated Jurassic-park style or it didn't happen."
    • masterm1nd, on 10/16/2007, -2/+7Your comment has nothing to do with the thread you posted it on.
  • urbandistrict, on 10/16/2007, -0/+13I could imagine how fantastic of a sight that would be to see a 4-story tall dinosaur making it's way through the mountains. The universe is an amazing place.
    • Jugalator, on 10/15/2007, -0/+1Well, you don't even have to leave Earth. ;) But I agree, what can truly boggle one's mind is that these walked the same planet as us. If one didn't know better, it would seem like stuff from a fairly tale. It's weird how different life has been on this very same world.
  • RegalGSX, on 10/16/2007, -3/+11Futalognkosauru to you too.
  • ReturnToFreedom, on 10/16/2007, -1/+11When are we going to start cloning them already? C'mon, at least give us a mammoth so we can visit it at the zoo.
    • Damian91, on 10/16/2007, -4/+1Dinosaurs need space and unlike the poor animals in zoos today they're most likely going to fight for wherever they want to go. The last thing we need is to depress anymore animals, let the poor animals R.I.P.

      Also Feeding them daily/weekly/monthly/yearly would bankrupt the zoos
      • sparkleton, on 10/16/2007, -0/+8Maybe it is just me, but I imagine a zoo with dinosaurs generating world wide tourism. Then there are always donations... Bills would be the least of the zoo's concerns.
      • Damian91, on 10/16/2007, -0/+1Dinosaurs need extraordinary amounts of food daily, and an even bigger amount of land. A person would literally need an huge island to care for these animals, and then he'd need an even bigger group of expertly trained people. I guess the business could possibly do good I really don't know, but starting off and adjusting to the huge animals moods is going to be ***** expensive.
        • Ndiggnation, on 10/16/2007, -0/+2I've got two islands for you that would be perfect, Isla Sorna and Isla Nublar, off the coast of Costa Rica. I've even got a jolly old benefactor for you that can hire all of those expertly trained people.
    • chronichyjinx, on 10/15/2007, -0/+1or at least an oliphant
  • Saea, on 10/16/2007, -11/+6CHUCK NORRIS CAN STILL TAKE IT!
  • happyhappyhappy, on 10/16/2007, -5/+4Most complete new giant dinosaur found in Patagonia
    By Andrei Khalip
    RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian and Argentine paleontologists have discovered the largely complete fossil of a new species of giant dinosaur that roamed what is now northern Patagonia about 80 million years ago.
    The herbivorous Futalognkosaurus dukei measured an estimated 105 feet to 112 feet from head to tail and was as high as a four-storey building. It is one of the three biggest dinosaurs yet found in the world.
    "It's a new species, it's a new group," Argentine paleontologist Juan Porfiri told a news conference in Rio de Janeiro on Monday.
    The find pointed to a new lineage of titanosaurs, with particularly bulky necks, he said.
    "Its neck was very big in diameter, strong and huge."
    Fossilized remains of an ecosystem from the same Late Cretaceous age, including well-preserved leaves and fish, were also found. The description was published in the latest issue of the annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.
    Futalognkosaurus dukei's name is derived from the indigenous Mapuche language meaning "giant chief of the lizards", and the name of U.S. power company Duke Energy Corp, which financed a large part of the excavation in Argentina.
    The fossil was 70 percent preserved, which compares to about 10 percent for other giant dinosaur finds in the world.
    "It's among the biggest dinosaur finds and the most complete for a giant dinosaur. We have all vertebrae between the first of the neck to the first of the tail, which may allow us to reevaluate other dinosaurs," said Alexander Kellner, a researcher with the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro.
    'LOST WORLD'
    The dinosaur is part of a series of finds in the area, where the first fossils were discovered in 2000.
    "The accumulation of fish and leaf fossils, as well as other dinosaurs around the find, is just something fantastic. Leaves and dinosaurs together is a great rarity," he told Reuters. "It's like a whole lost world for us."
    He was referring to "The Lost World" by Arthur Conan Doyle, a classic tale set in a remote part of South America where a scientific expedition finds dinosaurs still roaming an isolated plateau.
    Some of the leaves made part of the diet of the titanosaur and other specimens found there. The researchers said the fossilized ecosystem pointed to a warm and humid climate in Patagonia, which had forests during the Late Cretaceous period. The area is steppe-like now and almost bare of vegetation.
    Researchers believe the carcass of the giant dinosaur, which died of unknown causes, its flesh devoured by predators, was washed into a nearby slow-flowing river, where it created a barrier, accumulating bones and leaves in its structure for many years until all became fossilized.
    A fossil of a carnivorous theropod Megaraptor found at the site contained a complete and articulated arm with very large sickle-shaped claws. Previously, similar fragmented bones were interpreted as a foot, researchers said.
    The joint Argentine-Brazilian project also works in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, where Kellner said an important find has been made but would be revealed at a later date.
    Desert-like areas in Argentina are good for preserving fossils, while they are more difficult to find in the wetter soil in Brazil.
  • fockyou, on 10/16/2007, -0/+8I like how it was named after an energy company...
  • beckspace, on 10/16/2007, -0/+3http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2000/extremed ...
    south america had a lot of giant dinosaurs, isolated from the 'normal size' dinos because of the break-up of tectonic plates
    well, they dominated the earth for 160 million years, must have a lot of species unknown to us
  • iwantamonkey, on 10/16/2007, -3/+2Uh, headline should have included the words fossils or bones. Because really, I thought there was a big lizard wandering around the forest. :(
  • SiNN4R, on 10/16/2007, -7/+3Dinosaurs are fake.
    • Encablossa, on 10/16/2007, -2/+10Your comment is fake.
      • FreakyD, on 10/16/2007, -2/+7My wifes ***** are fake.....and there GREAT
        • masterm1nd, on 10/16/2007, -4/+9I'll bet there are.
        • gudnbluts, on 10/16/2007, -3/+0Ah, but have they ruled the world for 200 million years, and if not, why not? I'd vote for them.
        • ipodman715, on 10/16/2007, -0/+1Pics are mandatory in these conditions.
    • DrKildorksagin, on 10/16/2007, -1/+0I agree they are nice.
  • chronichyjinx, on 10/16/2007, -1/+1Was it hairy?
  • vanlawrence, on 10/16/2007, -2/+1pics or it didn't happen!
  • tbenathan, on 10/16/2007, -0/+3Whoever came up with this name was very dyslexic.
  • funkytaco, on 10/15/2007, -0/+1Of what is *now* Patagonia? Ergh?
  • KingBunny, on 10/15/2007, -0/+1That was funny and you know it.
  • limaunion, on 10/16/2007, -1/+1Patagonia is the southern part of Argentina, here you will find some pictures: http://tinyurl.com/ysaoku
  • secretivecoward, on 10/16/2007, -0/+7"Futalognkosaurus dukei's name is derived from the indigenous Mapuche language meaning "giant chief of the lizards", and the name of U.S. power company Duke Energy Corp, which financed a large part of the excavation in Argentina."
    After humans die out, I hope the next generation find my skeletal remains and name our species after a corporate sponsor.
    • Mononuclear, on 10/16/2007, -0/+1Utah recently named a sports arena after a company that dumps radioactive waste...
  • andrgo, on 10/16/2007, -0/+6"New dinosaur", is that an oxymoron?
    • gummih, on 10/16/2007, -0/+2Meh, these new dinosaurs are crap, they don't make them like they used to.
  • DanOnTheMoon, on 10/16/2007, -0/+2Teehee, the 'Dukei' partof the name is pronounced 'dookey'.
  • BumCheese, on 10/16/2007, -0/+2I can't understand any of this until it's compared to the T-Rex.
  • o0adam0o, on 10/16/2007, -1/+1"...as high as a four-storey building."

    Wow, never seen a four-storey building...must be high.
  • satoriii, on 10/16/2007, -2/+1That's no four story dinosaur...it's a space station
  • Googlelady, on 10/16/2007, -1/+2Great picture thanks for sharing it.
  • cliquee, on 10/16/2007, -0/+2The herbivorous Futalognkosaurus dukei measured an estimated 105 feet to 112 feet from head to tail and was as high as a four-storey building.
  • takeo1775, on 10/16/2007, -2/+2Will it blend?
  • captric, on 10/16/2007, -2/+0God put it there to confuse paleantologists because they question his creativity theory.
  • lightyearradio, on 10/16/2007, -2/+0The skeleton of what could be a new dinosaur species — OH CRAP, Britney turned herself in!

    Wake up, America! There's real ish happening out there.
  • Aramink, on 10/18/2007, -0/+0Futalognkosaurus dukei? How are we going to say that one? How about Calling it Duke Funkasaurus? At least that's pronounceable!
  • Cantrellv, on 07/24/2008, -0/+0Thomson Reuters Announces Recipients of 2008 North American InfoStar Awards
    http://www.sourcerelease.com/corp/4w2?r=cmmmmg
  •  

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