When I was growing up, kids were fascinated by dinosaurs, as they are now. The good thing was, at that time, there were only 8-10 dinosaurs to keep track of. Now, every time I turn around, they're finding more new dinosaurs. What ever happened to the good old days, when all you really had to keep track of was T. Rex, Brontosaurus and Stegosaurus and Allosaurus. Later , Apatosaurus reared its ugly head. (Can't remember, was he another iteration of Brontosaurus?) Anyway, it's confusing. For instance, this Mapusaurus appeared in my paper today.
This beast, Mapusaurus roseae, was more than 40 feet long. And may have hunted in packs. I mean, really, wouldn't that constitute overkill? He was found in Patagonia. No, not the clothing store. There were hundreds of Mapusaur bones in one area, indicating that they may have lived and hunted as packs. If they had discovered fire and farming and domestication of animals, they might still be around today (my interpolation). And, possibly even larger is the Giganotosaurus (good, original name) at 41 feet. But Sue, the T.rex skeleton at the Field Museum in Chicago wins at 42 feet. So on average, those guys were around 40 feet long.
The truth is, they can't tell which animals were the biggest because of individual size variation within the species (you can't tell if the skeleton you have is of a midget or a giant), and because without a complete skeleton, you can't tell exactly.
Another dinosaur, African this time, Spinosaurus at 50-60 feet is among the biggest carnivorous dinosaurs.
I guess they needed the size to take down their prey, though. The biggest known plant-eater, Argentinosaurus was 115 to 150 feet long.
It's interesting to note how theories of dinosaurs change with time. I remember them being depicted as large grey-green , cold-blooded lumbering beasts. Then people wondered whether they might be warm-blooded. Then maybe rather nimble. And colorful, often depicted with stripes.
Whatever they were, in their magnificence and mystery, they continue to fascinate.
[Illustrations from Wikipedia]
Comments