8/9/2017
By Ivan Pereira
Time to update your contact list, dinophiles.
Scientists have formally christened one of the newer dinosaurs in the American Museum of Natural History.
The 122-foot skeletal cast, a Titanosaur, was given the name Patagotitan mayorum by paleontologists during a ceremony at the museum Wednesday. The name refers to the region where the bones were found, Patagonia, and the Mayo family whose land it was found on.
The herbivore is one of the heaviest dinosaurs discovered — weighing in at 70 tons, the equivalent of 10 elephants.
The skeleton has been on display on the museum’s fourth floor, where its head and neck extend out toward the elevator banks, since 2016.
The museum celebrated the news on its social media accounts with a funny video that showed texts between the dinosaur and another famous large tenant of the museum, the blue whale.
