Whoa, there's a Patagotitan dinosaur on our lawn!

LSC News

LSC's Dino Days of Summer celebration is coming to an end on September 4, and for these final few days, we're thinking big. Like really, really, REALLY big.

Out on the lawn, we've drawn a life-size replica of the Patagotitan dinosaur. The Patagotitan – only just named this year – was recently determined by paleontologists to hold the record as the largest known dinosaur, as well as the largest known land animal to ever walk the Earth.

So how big is it? It is estimated to have been over 120 feet long and able to raise its neck nearly 50 feet high off the ground. It would have also weighed nearly 70 tons (this is heavier than 10 adult African elephants combined).

Here's a drawing of what the dinosaur might have looked like:

Some other fast facts about the Patagotitan:

  • The dinosaur's full name is Patagotitan mayorum – Patagotitan means "Giant from Patagonia" and "mayorum" is in honor of the family whose land the fossils were found on
  • Its heart would have been 6 feet in circumference and weighed as much as 3 people
  • It was first discovered in Argentina in 2012. Over 200 fossils from several individuals were excavated over the course of two years, but the dinosaur didn't officially receive a name until August of this year
  • It is a "long-necked" dinosaur, or sauropod, and specifically comes from the group of sauropods known as titanosaurs
  • The Patagotitan would have walked the earth 101.6 million years ago during the early Cretaceous Period

Come see our Patagotitan outline every day through the end of Dino Days of Summer! The best place to see it is on the fourth floor in LSC's Our Hudson Home observation deck.

Plus, check out these behind-the-scenes photos of our team making the outline:


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