Beijing Scientist unviel dinosaur bird the size of T-rex!

Scientists released their findings of Gigantoraptor erlianensis, a 16 foot tall, 3,000 lb sized specimen that lived 70 million years ago, whose bones were discovered in a mud hill near the inner Mongolian city of Erlian. They said this specimen wasn't even fully grown, and may well be the largest known feathered bird to ever roam the earth. It also stirs debate in the long held belief that dinosaurs shrank as they grew more birdlike.

Man, this dude would make a heck of a thanksgiving dinner. lol

www.usatoday.com...

what exactly is the picture of? i think its supposed to represent its skull...possibility of a hoax? would seem logical though that very large birds did exist

Some news coming out of China I take with a grain of skeptic salt, even if reported by USAtoday, similar to some news coming out of Russia, namely pravda.ru.


[edit on 6/13/2007 by greatlakes]

Umm... This thing was NOT as big as a T.Rex.

Tyrannosaurus rex was one of the largest land carnivores of all time, measuring 12 to 13 meters (40 to 43.3 feet) long, and 4.5-5 m (14-16.6 ft) tall, when fully-grown. Mass estimates have varied widely over the years, from more than 7,200 kilograms (8 tons), to less than 4,500 kg (5 tons), with most modern estimates ranging between 5,400 and 6,800 kg (between 6 and 7.5 tons).

Compaired to...

At more than 16 feet tall and roughly 3,000 pounds, the beast could stand eyeball-to-eyeball with a tyrannosaur, Chinese researchers say.

Sure, it could stand eye to eye with a T. Rex, but it would also be lunch for a T. Rex. And let's not forget Spinosaurus and Giganotosaurus! Those big boys could easily take on both critters by themselves!

but we all know the that the eagles in Lord of the Rings were the biggest birds in the world (outside of Sesame Street)

Another article on the gigantoraptor. Seems to be getting some attention.

news.aol.com...

Chinese conmen have pulled the wool over even the mighty National Geographic in the past with bogus fossils such as "archaeoraptor" so I think some hardcore skepticism is in order here.

en.wikipedia.org...

[edit on 14-6-2007 by uberarcanist]

They mention feathers, but didn't show photos of what made them think it had feathers.........perhaps there will be more coming if this is legit.

It looks a bit more turtle like to me. Here's one for comparison.

Originally posted by WatchNLearn
but we all know the that the eagles in Lord of the Rings were the biggest birds in the world (outside of Sesame Street)

Teratorns were HUGE! Argentavis magnificens was the largest, with a 25ft wingspan.

The Moa was pretty big, too. And let's not forget about the Haast eagle. This eagle, with a 15ft wingspan, fed upon the moa, and later it fed on humans (when the Maori wiped out the moa). Then humans murdered the species.


Gigantoraptor did exist. It is on the front page of the Chicago Tribune newspaper today. The article says that this species is not as big as T-rex. Though, they think that the individual that was dug up is not at full adult size yet.

Originally posted by greatlakes
Some news coming out of China I take with a grain of skeptic salt, even if reported by USAtoday, similar to some news coming out of Russia, namely pravda.ru.


[edit on 6/13/2007 by greatlakes]

Yes, don't trust anything from chinese, nothing from China.

Trust only American, the democracy and the christianity. The best

if you were to scroll down the 'comments'
the last poster on the page with the skull replica writes

~ if you enlarge the photo of the fossil skull
then zoom in on the lower right bottom jawbone
you will clearly see "Made in China' ~


i did what R U T suggested, but i just couldn't see it as plainly
as he claims...

but so what... the object is a replica of the fossil skull discovered
& the Made in China label would seem to be appropriate,
don't you all think

Originally posted by Cowboy Clint
Umm... This thing was NOT as big as a T.Rex.

Tyrannosaurus rex was one of the largest land carnivores of all time, measuring 12 to 13 meters (40 to 43.3 feet) long, and 4.5-5 m (14-16.6 ft) tall, when fully-grown. Mass estimates have varied widely over the years, from more than 7,200 kilograms (8 tons), to less than 4,500 kg (5 tons), with most modern estimates ranging between 5,400 and 6,800 kg (between 6 and 7.5 tons).

Compaired to...

At more than 16 feet tall and roughly 3,000 pounds, the beast could stand eyeball-to-eyeball with a tyrannosaur, Chinese researchers say.

Sure, it could stand eye to eye with a T. Rex, but it would also be lunch for a T. Rex. And let's not forget Spinosaurus and Giganotosaurus! Those big boys could easily take on both critters by themselves!

It doesn't say "Tyrannosaurus rex". It says "Tyrannosaur". The genus comes in all sizes, and some Chinese tyrannosaurs are relatively little. Plus the specimen they unearthed is a juvenile and has "room to grow".

When you hear the word, Tyrannosaur, what creature comes to mind? Do you think of an Allosaurus or do you think of a Tyrannosaurus Rex?

Seeing as how Tyrannosaur species run the gamut from big to small, it's safe to say that US Today chose base thier reference on the most popular creature of Tyrannosaur family, the T. Rex. (Who was 16ft. tall as stated in the article. )



[edit on 6/15/2007 by Cowboy Clint]