Re: Giganotosaurus Carolinii

[pharrinj@PLU.edu]

On Fri, 5 Jan 1996, Amado Narvaez wrote:

> 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?)

_Giganotosaurus_ had proportions much like those of the biggest _T. rex_ 
skeletons yet found but was probably more heavily built.


> 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?

Based on the form of the pelvis, _G. carolinii_ looks like an 
allosaurid.  All allosaurids for which the manus (hand) is known have 
three fingers.

<snip>

     Nick Pharris
     Pacific Lutheran University
     Tacoma, WA