Re: Giganotosaurus Carolinii

[Amado Narvaez <anarvaez@umd5.umd.edu>]

The _Nature_ article on Giganotosaurus was the 21 September 1995 issue 
(Volume 377, Issue 6546). The blurb about the theropod on the contents 
page states that this "mid-Cretaceous theropod... may have been even 
bigger than the notorious Late Cretaceous Tyrannosaurus rex." I'm waiting 
for children all over the world to go into culture shock over this 
announcement. I don't expect a chorus of "The king is dead! Long live the 
king!" but I'm sure there'll be some difficulty dealing with this.

There was a lot of discussion here about G. carolinii back in September.
Dinogeorge commented on the size question as follows:

"This 'bigger than _T. rex_' business isn't as clear-cut as I previously
thought, either. The femur is a few inches longer than that of 'Sue,' but the
whole leg is about the same size; the skull is a few inches longer, but the
body is about the same length as 'Sue's.' The quoted body weight is well
within published estimates of _T. rex_ body size. When I first heard about
this beast, the skull was said to be TWICE the length of that of _T. 
rex_. It shrank a bit since then."

(I hope you don't mind my quoting you, George. Is it safe to say that the 
verdict is not yet in on whether T. rex has been deposed?)

Tom Holtz posted more information about the size/weight comparison of T. 
rex and G. carolinii that you can look up in the dinosaur listserv 
archives. Or maybe he, George or someone else will post a more current 
summary of the details. Tom mentions that Ralph Molnar was supposed to 
have a look at G. and might make a report. Any news on that, Tom?

I've heard a variety of pronunciations for the creature, but the latest 
issue of the Dinosaur Society's _Dino Times_ says that Rodolfo Coria, who 
excavated the remains, pronounced it "JEE-gah-NAHT-oh-sore-us" I think. 
The species pronunciation is "kare-oh-lee-nye."

James Gurney in _The World Beneath_ (sequel to _Dinotopia_) has G. make 
an appearance in that book, a real scoop fiction-wise. I seem to remember 
Gurney doing an article in  _The Prehistoric Times_ about it, too. His 
illustrations show G. carolinii with three fingers, as does the 
restoration on page 226 of the issue of _Nature_ cited above. Can someone 
comment on why it is assumed that G. had three fingers? Also, what do you 
think of the Gurney interpretation of what the living beast looked like?

In a later posting I'll publish the song I wrote to help introduce G. 
carolinii to the students at my school.

----- Amado Narvaez
      anarvaez@umd5.umd.edu