Giant dino Titanosaur settles in to new museum home – though barely

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Museum Of Natural History Holds Media Preview Of New 122-Foot Dinosaur Exhibit
A replica of one of the largest dinosaurs ever discovered is unveiled at the American Museum of Natural History on January 14, 2016 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP)

A colossal 122-foot, 70-ton Titanosaur with thigh bones the size of couches is so big that it it needs not one, but two cavernous rooms in it’s new home, the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The cast goes on display Jan. 15.

A herbivore, the beast is likely one of the biggest land-walking creatures ever discovered. And it was most likely not even fully grown when it died 100 million years ago.

The dinosaur was discovered in 2014, in Argentinaís Patagonia region. (AFP / DON EMMERT)

The dinosaur was discovered in 2014, in Argentinaís Patagonia region. (AFP / DON EMMERT)

“Certain bones in these animals fuse when growth stops, which didn’t happen here. The researchers on hand said that they’d be able to count features on certain bones and eventually estimate its actual age,” John Timmer wrote in ArsTechnica.

Discovered in Patagonia, Argentina by a farmer in 2012, paleontologists spent a year and a half excavating several hundred bones. They then spent another half year creating 84 replicas out of fiberglass. The skull was made based on what related skulls look like.

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 14: A replica of one of the largest dinosaurs ever discovered is unveiled at the American Museum of Natural History on January 14, 2016 in New York City. The replica of the "Titanosaur" weighs about 70 tons, is 17 feet tall and stretches to nearly 122 feet long. The dinosaur belongs to the titanosaur family and was discovered by Paleontologists in the Patagonian Desert of Argentina in 2014 and lived about 100 to 95 million years ago. The exhibit at the museum features bones, fossils and a fibreglass replica of the creature. Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP

The replica of the “Titanosaur” weighs about 70 tons, is 17 feet tall and stretches to nearly 122 feet long. The dinosaur belongs to the titanosaur family and was discovered by Paleontologists in the Patagonian Desert of Argentina in 2014 and lived about 100 to 95 million years ago. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP)

Roughly 20 feet tall at the shoulder, the Titanosaurus would have been eye-level to a five-story building.

 

It’s #FossilFriday: Titanosaur Edition.The Museum’s newest resident, the Titanosaur, goes on display to the public…

Posted by American Museum of Natural History on Friday, January 15, 2016

“Titanosaur fossils have been unearthed on every continent, and an abundance of discoveries in recent years has helped us appreciate the deep diversity of this group,” Michael Novacek, the Museum’s Senior Vice President and Provost for Science, said in a statement.

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 14: A replica of one of the largest dinosaurs ever discovered is unveiled at the American Museum of Natural History on January 14, 2016 in New York City. The replica of the "Titanosaur" weighs about 70 tons, is 17 feet tall and stretches to nearly 122 feet long. The dinosaur belongs to the titanosaur family and was discovered by Paleontologists in the Patagonian Desert of Argentina in 2014 and lived about 100 to 95 million years ago. The exhibit at the museum features bones, fossils and a fibreglass replica of the creature. Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP

A replica of one of the largest dinosaurs ever discovered is unveiled at the American Museum of Natural History on January 14, 2016 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP)