"Are you sure? That's what Phil said?" asked an incredulous Mary Odano, 73, a caster who made the bones. The researchers who created and assembled the beast were shocked to learn of its smaller stature. Said Peter Dodson, a University of Pennsylvania paleontologist and academy research associate, when asked whether Giganotosaurus was the biggest: "I can give you a definite unequivocal maybe." "This is not something that will appear in a scientific publication, but it's fun for people to speculate on why and who was the more powerful animal." "Whether this is the longest meat-eating dinosaur in the world is debatable," acknowledged Ted Daeschler, an academy paleontologist who measured the dinosaur last week. But it doesn't change the essential fact that it's the biggest."Įven within the academy there was doubt about the actual size of the creature, which is poised over the reception desk as if it had just spotted a tasty morsel walking in the front door - you. "We have no doubts that it is the biggest meat-eater." He said the museum would correct its displays "because we have an obligation to be accurate to our public. "These are the accurate measurements," proclaimed academy President Paul Hanle.
So it pulled out its own tape measure and now says the animal is just over 41 feet. With Giganotosaurus' title, not to mention its marketing potential, on the line - it has its own Web site, where you can buy a 6-inch model of its skull for $175 - the academy spent several anxious hours when it learned of Currie's measurements.