Colossal dinosaur heading for UK display
A replica of what could have been the largest animal ever to walk on land is coming to London in the New Year.
A cast of the sauropod dinosaur known as Patagotitan will go on show at the Natural History Museum – assuming it fits within the gallery space.
Measuring some 35m (115ft) from nose to tail, the beast could have weighed up to 60 or 70 tonnes in life.
“We should be able to get it in but there won’t be much wriggle room,” said exhibition developer Sinéad Marron.
The replica skeleton is being loaned from Argentina’s Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio (MEF), whose staff excavated the animal’s giant bones in 2014.
Their exhumation of the 100m-year-old beast caused a sensation.
MEF is also going to loan the actual femur, which is sure to make a remarkable selfie moment for NHM visitors.
“That single leg bone measures 2.4m and weighs over 500 kilos,” said Ms Marron. “We’ll also have a full set of arm bones.
“It’ll be the first time that those fossils and Patagotitan will be on display in Europe. MEF are being incredibly generous. They’re just really keen to showcase their science to the world and we’re so excited we’re the venue that they want to do that with.”
The cast will be accompanied by interactive exhibits that explain the life story of the exceptionally large Cretaceous sauropods known collectively as the titanosaurs.
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