WRITTEN BY THE PALEONTOLOGISTS WHO LED THE DIG DR. JOSÉ LUIS CARBALLIDO & DR. DIEGO POL
DISCOVERING THE WORLD’S LARGEST DINOSAUR ILLUSTRATED BY FLORENCIA GIGENA
To Gimena, for constant support and love. To Gaspar and Ciro, for their love and joy. - JLC
To my family, for always being there with me. - DP
To Javier, for being my unconditional soul mate. To Juana and Rafael, for the love and joy. To Rubén, for the wisdom and support. To Sharon, for the courage. - FG
Acknowledgments The expeditions conducted for recovering this giant titanosaur were only possible thanks to the help of many people, including our fellow paleontologists who participated in the study of this species (Leonardo Salgado, Alejandro Otero, and Ignacio Cerda). Numerous volunteers, students, and technicians also participated in this process. Among them, Pablo Puerta was the first one who visited the locality and was a key teammember in this project. The family Mayo showed us the dinosaur bone found by Aurelio Hernandez and hosted us at their ranch during the successive expeditions we conducted to recover the fossils.
Made in North Point, Hong Kong. 137 The text type was set in Aptifer Slab. The display type was set in League Gothic. Book design by Kirk Bensho !
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Stock photos © Shutterstock: cover background texture and throughout (Attitude), 3 compass (Love- DesignShop), 3 map (Cartarium), 10 bottom texture and throughout (Milagli), 21 bottom (Volodymyr Burdiak), 25 bus (Sergii Tverdokhlibov), 38 map (Cartarium), 38 compass (LoveDesignShop). Page 11 @MEF / (José Luis Carballido, Pablo Puerta, Javier García Díaz, Alejandro Otero) Page 12 @MEF / (José Luis Carballido, Pablo Puerta, Javier García Díaz, Alejandro Otero) Page 18 @MEF / (José Luis Carballido, Pablo Puerta, Javier García Díaz, Alejandro Otero) Page 19 @MEF / (José Luis Carballido, Pablo Puerta, Javier García Díaz, Alejandro Otero) Page 21 @Shutterstock Page 22 @Mef / @MEF / (José Luis Carballido, Pablo Puerta, Javier García Díaz, Alejandro Otero) Page 24 @Mef / @MEF / (José Luis Carballido, Pablo Puerta, Javier García Díaz, Alejandro Otero) Page 25 @Mef / Gabriel Lio Page 26 @Mef / @MEF / (José Luis Carballido, Pablo Puerta, Javier García Díaz, Alejandro Otero) Page 30 @Mef / @MEF / Amalia Villafañe Pages 34-35 @Mef / Diego Pol Pages 36-37 @José María Farfaglia. (Pablo with the big femur) @Javier García Díaz (Laura with the microscope at the lab) @MEF / (José Luis Carballido, Pablo Puerta, Javier García Díaz, Alejandro Otero)
ISBN 978-1-338-76680-6
Copyright © 2019 by American Museum of Natural History and Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio. All rights reserved. Published by Orchard Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920 . "#$%&#' ("")* and design are registered trademarks of Watts Publishing Group, Ltd., used under license. *$%"+&*,-$ and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
BY DR. JOSÉ LUIS CARBALLIDO & DR. DIEGO POL
ILLUSTRATED BY FLORENCIA GIGENA
DISCOVERING THE WORLD’S LARGEST DINOSAUR
SCHOLASTIC INC.
EARLY ONE SUMMER MORNING in a place called Patagonia, Argentina, a gaucho and his sheepdog left their ranch to search for a lost sheep.
After hours of searching, the gaucho spotted something poking out of the dirt. His dog lunged forward and sniffed all around the large, mysterious mound.
What is that ? the gaucho wondered. It was like nothing he had ever seen.
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A gaucho is a skilled horseman, like the American cowboy, who is native to Argentina, Uruguay, and some parts of Brazil. In Patagonia, the gauchos are farmers and shepherds. GAUCHO
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A few months later, the gaucho was walking in town when he passed a museum with a dinosaur skeleton on display. He walked in and went up to the front desk. “Excuse me,” he said, pointing to the display. “I found a bone just like that one on my ranch. But it’s much bigger than that one.”
Moments later, the museum’s two paleontologists rushed over. “Where exactly is your ranch?” asked Diego, one of the paleontologists. “About three hours west of here,” the gaucho told them.
the past, some of which lived millions of years ago! PALEONTOLOGIST
A paleontologist is a scientist who studies plants and animals from
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The two scientists glanced at each other. They knew that land was home to large areas of rock formed over 100 million years ago—back when dinosaurs roamed Earth! “ Much bigger?” the other paleontologist, José, repeated. How much bigger could it possibly be? “Can I come see?”
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are fossils. Fossils are pieces of plants or animals that lived long ago and have been covered up and kept in Earth’s crust. Fossil bones are heavy, like rocks, but also very delicate. They always have cracks, so the bone can be broken into many pieces if treated roughly. Paleontologists use di ! erent glues and chemicals to fill in the cracks and hold the pieces together so that the bone can be collected without it su ! ering any damage. DINOSAUR BONES
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Out on the ranch, José and the gaucho drove all over the hills until they ! nally found the spot where he had ! rst seen the strange object.
“You were right!” José told the gaucho within seconds. “This is de ! nitely a dinosaur fossil. And from what I can see, it’s bigger than any other bone we’ve ever found around here.” Once again, José wondered, How much bigger could it possibly be? There was only one way to ! nd out!
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José immediately assembled a small team of scientists to dig up the rest of the bone, which was buried under the hard rock. José loved the beginning of a new dig. Not knowing what he might uncover was thrilling!
dinosaur bones is a delicate business that involves the use of a great variety of tools. Uncovering a giant dinosaur requires removing large amounts of rocks, so paleontologists use power tools such as jackhammers and rock saws, as well as shovels and wheelbarrows to remove all the rocks. However, when paleontologists work very close to a bone, they use much smaller and more delicate tools, such as dental picks, awls, and brushes, because the bones are so fragile. They chip away at the rock gently and carefully until the bone is free, which could take a very long time. DIGGING UP
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“I can’t believe it!” José exclaimed, measuring the bone that took them over a week to dig up. “It’s seven feet, ten inches long!” This one femur was larger than any dinosaur bone the team of scientists had ever seen. José just hoped they could transport it back to the museum without breaking it.
A femur is the thigh bone that connects the pelvis to the knee. It’s the longest and strongest bone in the body. FEMUR
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“It took you ten days to dig up one bone?” Diego asked when José ! nally returned to the museum. Diego had never spent more than a few days on a dig for a single bone before, let alone ten! “Why did it take so long?” “Come and see for yourself!” José remarked, leading his partner to the lab.
For the ! rst time, Diego set his eyes on the giant bone. His face lit up. “There could be more,” José said. “Maybe if we had more time—” “Let’s get a team together,” Diego cut in. “We have to go back immediately!”
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While they waited for the team to arrive at the ranch, José, Diego, and their friend and colleague Pablo Puerta tried to determine the best place to start digging.
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were sauropods— large plant-eating dinosaurs that walked on four legs, had long tails and necks, and tiny heads. They lived over 120 million years ago, during the Cretaceous Period. For the scientists, pieces were beginning to fit together like a puzzle, and a giant titanosaur was taking shape! The small vertebra, or tailbone, that the scientists uncovered had a ball shape in the back and a socket in the front, so bones fit tightly together, one next to the other. This one little bone from the tip of the tail was enough to tell them it once belonged to a titanosaur! TITANOSAURS
“I found some bone pieces over here!” called José. “There are two more over here!” shouted Diego. “This piece over here is a vertebra!” cried Pablo from 100 feet away. José and Diego took a closer look at the vertebra. “The shape makes me think it’s from a titanosaur,” said Diego. “I agree,” said José. “That would explain the giant size of the femur!” Could the vertebra and the femur possibly belong to the same dinosaur? There was only one way to ! nd out!
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vertebrae sparked the interest of the whole teambecause of the bones’ unique shape. These larger bones that connected the tail to the back of the legs had deep, bow-like markings on their sides where the muscles attached. But these markings were much larger than they had seen in other dinosaurs—whichmeant that the muscles were larger, too! The puzzle was gainingmore pieces by the day. THE TAIL
A few days later, the twenty-person expedition team got to work! After just a few hours, they had exposed a series of massive tail vertebrae! And soon after that, they uncovered the hip bones.
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TEAMWORK
is the secret to a successful
dinosaur dig! Expedition teams are made up of paleontologists, lab technicians, students, and volunteers who all have to work together well. Dinosaur excavations are usually in remote places—far away from cities—so paleontologists need to camp near the dig. Bringing all the equipment for the dig is important, but it’s just as important to have all the camping and cooking gear needed to live on the campsite. O ! en, paleontologists spend over a month camping while digging up a dinosaur!
Back at the camp that night, José thought about the incredible discoveries they had made that day. All the bones seemed to ! t together so perfectly, he almost couldn’t believe it. José smiled and turned to his team. “I’m pretty sure that what we have here is one huge titanosaur.”
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Days of digging uncovered bone after bone after bone, until they had so many bones, they could actually ! gure out how heavy the dinosaur was! Diego measured the dinosaur’s leg and arm bones and began calculating how many pounds each bone could carry. “Did you ! gure it out?” José asked eagerly.
or weight, of an extinct dinosaur can be estimated by measuring the circumference, or overall thickness, of its leg bones. In the case of quadrupedal animals—animals that walk on four legs—the major front leg bones are called the humeri and the major back leg bones are called the femora. Heavier animals require thicker bones to support their weight, so there is a specific relationship between these measurements and the body mass. If you know how thick the leg bones are, you can calculate how heavy the animal was! This wasn’t just a titanosaur, it was the largest dinosaur ever found! An African elephant weighs between 2.5–7 tons. Imagine adding ten 7-ton elephants together! THE BODY MASS ,
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“Yes,” Diego answered, stunned. “This titanosaur weighed seventy tons!” “That’s about the weight of ten of the largest African elephants!” shouted José. “Which makes this dinosaur . . .” “. . . the biggest one ever found,” ! nished Diego in awe.
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After a few minutes of celebrating, the team got back to work.
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It wasn’t long until Pablo shouted, “I’ve found another femur!” From the opposite corner of the site, José yelled, “I’ve got a femur here, too!” “ Three femur bones?” asked a student. “But a dinosaur only has two.” Diego smiled. “It looks like we are digging up more than one dinosaur.” The team couldn’t believe their luck! Not only were they uncovering the largest dinosaur ever discovered, but it looked as though there might be more than one titanosaur buried in that very spot.
uncovered more than 100 bones from seven di ! erent dinosaurs in that one ancient plot of land—all in just two weeks! Titanosaurs lived in herds, so it’s possible that these bones came from herds of titanosaurs that had been wiped out by a flood or a volcanic eruption. Because the bones were found buried in several di ! erent levels of the earth, the scientists were also able to conclude that these titanosaurs had died at di ! erent points in time. THE TEAM
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TRANSPORTING
the gigantic dinosaur
bones from the dig site to the museum lab was the team’s next big job. In the same way that doctors wrap a broken arm or leg with plaster bandages, paleontologists wrap dinosaur bones with plaster and burlap bandages to keep them protected. But there is one di ! erence— doctors use one or two pounds of plaster, and paleontologists use hundreds of pounds of plaster for one giant dinosaur bone! Enclosing the bone in a hard plaster jacket enables the scientists to move the fossil bone to the museum lab without it su ! ering any damage.
With over 100 bones to cover in plaster, the team began to run out of supplies. Diego also wanted to make one giant jacket for the hip and tail bones, but that cast alone would weigh over a ton! The team would need a crane to lift it. They would also need to build a new road to get the crane and the ! atbed truck to the site for loading; the existing narrow dirt road wasn’t big enough. There was one more problem: Winter was coming. Freezing nights, cold days, rain, even snowfall would put the fragile dinosaur bones at risk. They had to " nish the dig before it came!
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reveals new theories about dinosaurs every day. Until recently, paleontologists thought that plant- eating dinosaurs had long necks so they could reach leaves on the highest branches of the tallest trees. But today, they believe it’s more likely that dinosaurs needed the length to move their necks from side to side so they could feed on several trees nearby without having to walk around. This titanosaur had a neck that was over forty feet long! RESEARCH
While Pablo arranged for more supplies, the team ! nally uncovered the neck bones! And ! fteen of them seemed to belong to the same dinosaur. Diego got busy taking measurements. “This dinosaur’s neck may have been longer than a school bus!”
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Finally, someone came across something sharp and pointy—a tooth! Diego looked closely at the tooth. He knew that one tooth could tell him so much about how this giant creature ate. Once again, Diego began to calculate. “Based on this titanosaur’s weight,” he ! nally said, “it must have eaten the amount of plants it would take to cover an entire soccer ! eld every single day!”
TEETH
can tell scientists so much about the creature
they come from. Teeth are much harder and stronger than skull bones, and are more likely to be preserved. (Even though over seventy species of titanosaur have been discovered, only four skulls have ever been found!) The tooth they found had clear facets, or indentations, which led them to conclude that the titanosaur used its teeth to cut branches and leaves. Like many dinosaur teeth, these were not very good for chewing, so the titanosaur probably gulped entire leaves! The teeth of meat- eating dinosaurs were much sharper, perfect for hunting.
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With most of the bones uncovered, the team turned to the task of getting the bones safely back to the lab. Pablo ! nally returned with supplies and a bulldozer to " atten the road. “I hope we can ! nish in time,” Pablo said anxiously. “We don’t have a choice,” said Diego.
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Sundown got earlier with every night, and Diego noticed a chill in the air. At last, after ! fteen long days, all the bones had been covered in plaster jackets, and the road was almost ! nished. The night before they left, the team celebrated!
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Early the next morning, one by one, the crane lifted the heavy plaster jackets onto the truck. When the ! nal jacket had been slowly loaded, the whole team cheered. Even the gaucho and his dog came to wave good-bye. Finally, bones that had been buried in the desert for over 100 million years would have a new home.
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NEW SPECIES
of dinosaurs are being discovered
all the time. A ! er studying the bones they had dug up, Diego, José, and their colleagues realized that not only was this titanosaur the biggest dinosaur that had ever been found, it was actually an entirely new species of titanosaur! In August 2017, the titanosaur was given its o " cial scientific name, Patagotitan mayorum . Patago came from where it was discovered, Patagonia, and mayorum came from the ranch owner’s family name, Mayo.
Back at the museum, the team unloaded the truck and carefully sawed off the plaster jackets. Then they began gently cleaning the bones. José and Diego looked around their lab, which was now crowded with more than 180 titanosaur bones! The work continued as each bone was studied to see what secret it might reveal.
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As each bone was studied, it was also scanned on all sides. Then a three-dimensional replica of each bone was created. Scientists do this so they can mount a skeleton of the dinosaur in an exhibit without exposing the real bones to harm. After six months of work, all the bones were copied.
Finally, the crew began assembling the skeleton, putting every bone replica in exactly the right place. This took a team of people 40,000 total hours of work—that amounts to about two full weeks of time!
A replica is a copy or a model of something. These bone replicas were made from a lightweight material called fiberglass. REPLICA
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Fourteen months after they dug up the very ! rst femur, the titanosaur skeleton was ! nally complete. The whole team gathered in the very tall, very long warehouse to see it. It was breathtaking. The titanosaur skeleton measured 122
feet long and just under 26.5 feet tall. “It’s even larger than I imagined,” said José as he circled it in awe. “It’s the biggest dinosaur ever found,” replied Diego. José looked at his friend and
colleague and smiled knowingly. “For now,” he said, “for now.”
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DEAR READER, The discovery of new fossils always gives us an amazing feeling that transports us to our childhoods, when we imagined the adventures of traveling to faraway deserts, looking for something new, something that nobody had ever seen before. Nowadays, as paleontologists, this is part of what we do, and we continue to imagine new expeditions in the vast deserts of Patagonia. Sharing our stories with young readers who, like us, dream of going on adventures looking for dinosaurs is one of our favorite parts of being paleontologists. This is when our work comes full circle. Perhaps these stories will encourage some of you to become part of the future generation of paleontologists and lead your own dinosaur adventures some day! We hope you enjoyed our story of the discovery of titanosaur.
DR. JOSÉ LUIS CARBALLIDO
DR. JOSÉ LUIS CARBALLIDO AND DR. DIEGO POL
DR. DIEGO POL
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DR. JOSÉ LUIS CARBALLIDO obtained his PhD in 2012 conducting research and analysis on the evolution and anatomy of
sauropod dinosaurs at the MEF Museum in Patagonia, where he still works. Over the last ten years, he has conducted and participated in several ! eld trips in Patagonia looking for new evidence on past life. He is particularly interested in understanding the great diversity of these giant plant-eating dinosaurs that proliferated in Patagonia during the dinosaur era, but he also studies species from other places. specializes in understanding their evolutionary relationships. He conducted his PhD at the joint program of Columbia University and the AMNH and received his degree in 2005. Since 2006, he has led the Vertebrate Paleontology program at the MEF Museum in Patagonia, and he is a research associate of the AMNH Division of Paleontology. During the last ten years, Dr. Pol and his research team have discovered fossils of over twenty new species of dinosaurs, crocs, and other vertebrates.
DR. DIEGO POL studies dinosaurs and other fossil reptiles, and
FLORENCIA GIGENA is a mother, wife, graphic designer, illustrator, and philanthropist. Florencia has created designs, images, and communication strategies in the most varied commercial and cultural areas, from the landing of the largest dinosaur in the world in New York to the launch of one of the latest European cars in Argentina. She graduated with a degree in Fine Arts and Design. She is the head of Communication Management at MEF and creative director of her own design studio.
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OVER 120 FEET LONG. HEAVIER THAN 10 AFRICAN ELEPHANTS. MEET TITANOSAUR: THE LARGEST CREATURE TO EVER WALK THE EARTH! Join paleontologists José Luis Carballido and Diego Pol on the adventure of a lifetime, and learn all about how they uncovered more than180 titanosaur bones in the deserts of Argentina, forever changing our understanding of these 100-million-year-old creatures.
Cover art © 2019 by Florencia Gigena • Cover design by Kirk Benshoff Cover illustration copyright © 2019 by American Museum of Natural History and Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio
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