Palaeontology

Massive new dinosaur found inside a museum

By T.K. Randall
May 3, 2017 ·  0 comments

The newly discovered species was enormous. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 2.5 Gerhard Boeggemann Nicknamed 'Max', this gentle giant, which measured 30 meters in length and weighed up to 15 tons, would have been capable of stripping entire branches from trees with its huge peg-like teeth.

Dating back more than 150 million years, the species was very similar to Diplodocus with its long whip-like tail, long neck, small head and four huge pillar-like legs.

Officially known as Galeamopus pabsti, the dinosaur was discovered after experts realized that a specimen held for years at a museum in Switzerland actually belonged to a new species."Diplodocids are among the best known sauropod dinosaurs," said Dr Emanuel Tschopp, a palaeontologist from the University of Turin.

"Numerous specimens of currently 15 accepted species belonging to ten genera have been reported from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous."

"The highest diversity is known from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of the western United States: a recent review recognised 12 valid, named species, and possibly three additional, yet unnamed ones."

Source: News.com.au | Comments (0)

Tags: Dinosaur