Gigantic Giganotosaurus

I sat for the longest time last night going through my dinosaur photos from the Royal Ontario Museum, trying to decide which ones to share with you today.  That’s the problem when you take as many pictures as I do.  There are too many to choose from.

So, I decided to start with what may have been the largest land predator ever to have lived – Giganotosaurus!    According to my guide book, “it is the largest carnivorous dinosaur from Gondwana known from a complete skeleton – the best specimen is missing only its arms and feet.  The skeleton suggests that Giganotosaurus was approximately 13 metres long and stood about 3 metres tall at the hips, and it weighed 6000 kg.  Although similar in size to Tyrannosaurus rex, its skull was longer and less robust.  It had blade-like teeth well suited to slicing meat, rather than the more bone-crushing teeth and jaws of T. rex.  Giganotosaurus was the apex predator in South America about 95 million years ago.”

Here are some photos of Giganotosaurus, and I even broke my usual rules and included a photo of myself because for once it’s not that bad :).  In that photo you will notice a man’s hand holding an object with a screen. That is in fact an iPad, one of many that were set up in front of the displays.  They were amazing because when you turned it from one end of the dinosaur skeleton to the other, it showed you what the dinosaur might have looked like with skin and flesh.  They really went all out with this exhibit!!  Hope you enjoy Giganotosaurus!

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