IT’S one of the biggest beasts to have ever walked Earth – and now it’s being brought to life in a new exhibition. The Patagotitan mayorum, a member of the titanosaur sauropod family, was more than 30m long – that’s the size of four buses.
From next year a life-sized replica of the dinosaur’s huge skeleton will be a new highlight in the Natural History Museum in London. The museum’s previous superstar, Dippy the Diplodocus, occupied the main exhibition hall for years.
While Dippy is only 26m long, the Patagotitan is 37m long from nose to tail.
The enormous dinosaur’s bones were discovered in Patagonia in 2010 (see box), after which archaeologists went on to find more than 200 pieces of skeleton belonging to six different Patagotitans. Researchers called the find a treasure trove because it enabled them to learn a lot about the species.
The Patagotitan was
