105-Foot Dinosaur Unearthed in Argentina

Associated Press ^ | 10/15/2007 | Michael Astor

[Alter Kaker]

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) — The skeleton of what is believed to be a new dinosaur species — a 105-foot plant-eater that is among the largest dinosaurs ever found — has been uncovered in Argentina, scientists said Monday.

Standing alongside a replica of a neck vertebra more than 3 feet high, scientists from Argentina and Brazil said the find was remarkable because they have recovered the most complete skeletons one of one of these "giants" found so far.

They said the Patagonian dinosaur appears to represent a previously unknown species of Titanosaur because of the unique structure of its neck. They named it Futalognkosaurus dukei after the Mapuche Indian words for "giant" and "chief," and for Duke Energy Argentina, which helped fund the skeleton's excavation.

"This is one of the biggest in the world and one of the most complete of these giants that exist," said Jorge Calvo, director of the paleontology center at the National University of Comahue, Argentina. He was lead author of a study on the dinosaur published in the peer-reviewed Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.

Scientists said the giant herbivore walked the Earth some 88 million years ago, during the late Cretaceous period.

Since the first bones were found on the banks of Lake Barreales in the Argentine province of Neuquen in 2000, paleontologists have dug up the dinosaur's neck, back region, hips and the first vertebra of its tail.

"I'm pretty certain it's a new species," agreed Peter Mackovicky, associate curator for dinosaurs at Chicago's Field Museum, who was not involved with the discovery. "I've seen some of the remains of Futalognkosaurus and it is truly gigantic."

Calvo said the neck alone must have been 56 feet long, and by studying the vertebrae, they figured the tail probably measured 49 feet. The dinosaur reached over 43 feet tall, and the excavated spinal column alone weighed about 9 tons when excavated.

Patagonia also was home to the other two largest dinosaur skeletons found to date — Argentinosaurus, at around 115 feet long, and Puertasaurus reuili, 115 feet to 131 feet long.

Comparison between the three herbivores, however, is difficult because scientists have only found few vertebrae of Puertasaurus, and while the skeleton of Futalognkosaurus (FOO-ta-long-koh-SOHR-us) is fairly complete, scientists have not uncovered any bones from its limbs.

North America's dinosaurs don't even compare in size, Mackovicky added in a phone interview. "Dinosaurs do get big here, but nothing near the proportions we see in South America."

Jeff Wilson, an assistant professor of paleontology at the University of Michigan, who was asked to review the finding, said he was impressed by the sheer amount of skeleton recovered.

"I should really try to underscore how incredible it is to have partial skeleton of something this size," Wilson said in telephone interview. "With these kind of bones you can't study them by moving them around on the table, you have to move around them yourself."

The site where Futalognkosaurus was found has been a bonanza for paleontologists, yielding more than 1,000 specimens, including 240 fossil plants, 300 teeth and the remains of several other dinosaurs.

"As far as I know, there is no other place in the world where there is such a large and diverse quantity of fossils in such small area. That is truly unique," said Alexander Kellner, a researcher with the Brazilian National Museum and co-author of the dinosaur's scientific description.

[Alter Kaker]

For you believers out there, the pre-flood vapor canopy theory explains this nicely.

1. A vapor canopy with more than twelve inches of precipitable water would raise the temperature of the earth above boiling (Morton 1979). A vapor canopy of only four inches of water would raise the temperature of the earth to 144 degrees F. It is worth noting that several prominent creationists agree with this conclusion, yet their close colleagues continue to teach that there was a vapor canopy (Morton 2000).

2. A vapor canopy capable of producing the global flood would have increased earth's atmospheric pressure from 15 PSI to 970 PSI.

Source: http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CH/CH310.html

[Young Werther]

You must be Clueless. Ask that noted Vegan, Alicia Silverstone

[Young Werther]

Dinosaurs had multiple hearts to overcome gravity. Their brains were contained in more than one location so you might say that like the Apple III they performed distributed processing.

Now you know where the term dinosaur operating system comes from.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

“it still needed some degree of circulation “
Maybe it had auxiliary pumping stations in it’s suburban areas?

[disrgr]

Are you serious?

[RightWhale]

Imagine a nest of these hatching and the mother dino faced with a dozen beaks open at once: “Feed me! Now!”

[numberonepal]

How could dinosaurs exist 87,993,352 years before the earth was created?

The Lord himself planted all that fossil evidence there to test our faith. Get with the program. Jeez.

[Tanniker Smith]

I don't know why you're saying it's "new" and been "discovered". It's always been there, and the guys from the GEICO commercial could probably tell you its name if you bothered to ask them, but, no, you probably think that they were too dumb to beat off the dinosaurs while they were, I don't know, founding civilization as we know it . . .

;-)
(I won't mention a certain TV show that doesn't deserve to be named.)

[ari-freedom]

how could global warming be wrong if Al Gore won the nobel prize?

[Dumpster Baby]

That was exactly the answer a coworker gave me one time when I brought up the fossil record in a discussion on science versus creationism. He was totally convinced that Earth was only 6000 years old.

[Alter Kaker]

That was exactly the answer a coworker gave me one time when I brought up the fossil record in a discussion on science versus creationism. He was totally convinced that Earth was only 6000 years old.

You'd be amazed at the number of people on Free Republic who believe that... it's a strange world we live in.

[ari-freedom]

yes it’s so amazing there are people on FR who take their religion seriously. If you go to daily kos or DU you won’t find too many people who do.

[uncbob]

I worked with engineers that believed it

[fish hawk]

The only Christians that believe that crap do not know anything about Bible Scripture. The Bible does not teach that, they just heard it from some other Christian and took it to be true. I’m a Christian and know that the earth is millions of years old.

[Alter Kaker]

yes it’s so amazing there are people on FR who take their religion seriously.

I'm all for taking religion seriously, but I'm not in favor of placing dogmatic (mis)interpretation of scripture in direct opposition to, well, reality.

If you read scripture that you believe says the sky is green and the grass is blue, you have three options. First, you can abandon your faith. Second, you can question your interpretation of the scripture, given the obvious facts. Third, you can believe that the grass is indeed blue and the sky is indeed green regardless of what your own eyes tell you. I chose the second of those options. Clearly, others chose the third.

[NormsRevenge]

That's a Big 'un!

Alexander Kellner, left, a researcher with the Brazilian National Museum, and Argentine paleontologists Jorge Calvo, center, and Juan Porfiri, display parts of a skeleton of what could be a new dinosaur species, a 105-foot plant-eater, Futalognkosaurus dukei dinosaur, during a news conference in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Oct. 15, 2007. The Patagonian dinosaur was uncovered on the banks of Lake Barreales in the Argentine province of Neuquen and according with the scientists the giant herbivore walked the Earth some 88 million years ago, during the late Cretaceous period. (AP Photo/Ricardo Morales)

[NormsRevenge]

Graphic shows schematic drawing of new giant dinosaur
and parts of its skeleton that were discovered in Argentina.

[Southack]

""I'm pretty certain it's a new species," agreed Peter Mackovicky..."

That's funny, but I'm pretty certain that it's an old species. Ba dump bump!

[Old Professer]

Such as “explained” and illustrated here?

http://www.levenspiel.com/octave/OL_images/DinosaurW.pdf

[Joe 6-pack]

"Maybe it had auxiliary pumping stations in it’s suburban areas?"

All I know is that when considering the biology of a 105 ft. herbivore, one would do well to steer clear of the major outlets during rush hour!