The cast of an enormous titanosaur skeleton will go on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City on Friday (Jan. 15). The cast is so large that it takes up two rooms, and it's even longer than the museum's iconic model of the blue whale. [Read the Full Story on the New Titanosaur]
Argentine Origins
A dinosaur uncovered in the desert outside La Flecha in southern Argentina now has a cast on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. (Credit: Copyright Alejandro Otero)
Titanic effort
The huge cast took more than six months to create. (Credit: Copyright AMNH | D. Finnin)
Working on history
The replica was formed from Fiberglass and took more than half a year to develop. (Credit: Copyright AMNH | D. Finnin)
Creating a moment
Research Casting International (RCI) produced the model with Argentina's Museo Palenontológico Egidio Feruglio. (Credit: Copyright AMNH | D. Finnin)
Modern tech and primitive subject
A team member uses modern technologies to create a 3D image of the dinosaur for display. (Credit: Copyright AMNH | D. Finnin)
3D-Printed Fiberglass model
The life-size display of the skeleton is created purely from 3D prints made of lightweight Fiberglass. Real fossils would be too heavy to mount. (Credit: Copyright AMNH | D. Finnin)
Assembling the cast
The cast consists of 84 replicas of fossil bones excavated in Argentine Patagonia. (Credit: Copyright AMNH | D. Finnin)
Fabricating the display
Any of the missing bones were created from modeling close relatives of the titanosaur. (Credit: Copyright AMNH | D. Finnin)
Putting the puzzle together
The museum's display incorporates models of 84 fossils uncovered at the excavation and bones crafted after studying relatives of the large dinosaur. (Credit: Copyright AMNH | D. Finnin)
Checking for accuracy
Mark Norell, the museum chair of paleontology, oversees the development of the cast. (Credit: Copyright AMNH | D. Finnin)
Scary welcome
The dinosaur model is larger than the exhibition area, so it welcomes guests to the museum at the elevators, as they enter the hall. (Credit: Copyright AMNH | D. Finnin)
A big guy
Studying the front leg (the scapula, humerus, radius and ulna) of the titanosaur, experts believe this giant could have looked into the windows of a five-story building. (Credit: Copyright AMNH | D. Finnin)
A leggy dino
The femur fossil alone is 8 feet (2.4 m) long. Using that information from the size of the bone, scientists estimate the animal to have weighed around 70 tons, the equivalent of about 35 cars. (Credit: Copyright AMNH | D. Finnin)
Goliath replica
Team members combine each piece of the 3D-printed puzzle, section by section, to create the humongous model. (Credit: Copyright AMNH | D. Finnin)
Piece by piece
RCI put the puzzle that is the dinosaur cast together at the American Museum of Natural History. (Credit: Copyright AMNH | D. Finnin)
Coming together
The titanosaur cast spans 122 feet (37 meters) across the exhibit hall at the museum's orientation center. (Credit: Copyright AMNH | D. Finnin)
Final touches
Crews from RCI attach the head to the body of the model, preparing the display for exhibition. (Credit: Copyright AMNH | D. Finnin)
