Calculated weight of stegosaurus ‘Sophie’ 1.6 tonnes – ElTiempo.com

British scientists calculated the body mass of the stegosaurus ‘ Sophie’, a herbivorous dinosaur that lived an estimated 150 million years ago and weighed about 1,600 kilograms, said Wednesday the Natural History Museum, London (NHM).

With 85 percent of its intact skeleton more than any other of stegosaurus in the world, this fossil, 5.6 meters high and 2.9 meters long, It consists of 360 bones and is exposed in the Hall of the Earth Museum London.

Experts say that at the time of his death, ‘Sophie’ could have had six or seven years age and weight was 1.6 tonnes, similar to a small rhinoceros. However, it is estimated that its size would have been considerably higher had continued to grow.

As stated Charlotte Brassey, a paleontologist at the Museum of Natural History (NHM, its acronym in English) the BBC, “measurement to determine your body mass allowed the scientists knew details of his speed and metabolism.”

The skeleton of ‘Sophie’ was found by American paleontologist Bob Simon in 2003 on a ranch in Wyoming, United States and ten years later was acquired by the NHM.

However, before being exposed for the first time last December, scientific passed through the Scanner 360 bones that make up the skeleton to digitize and create ‘three-dimensional models’ to determine its volume.

Traditionally, experts have calculated the body mass of animals from the set distance from the circumference of the femur to the humerus, a particularly valid for specimens of extinct technique which have few remains.

To calculate the body mass of stegosaurus another method was used. “Sophie is exceptional because it is almost complete. I have spent the last year digitizing its entire skeleton, creating three-dimensional models. The import a CAD (computer aided design) program and then wrap it very simple forms around its circumference, whose volume helps us predict body mass, “said Brassey.

The results obtained by both methods (modern and traditional) yielded the same results, said paleontologist.

The team of experts continues NHM still immersed in extensive research on ‘Sophie’ and predicted that in the coming years will be able to give more answers about Stegosaurus.

“We are delighted to have been able to start this soon. We are now beginning to join muscles to our computer models to ‘Sophie’ tell us something about their motor skills. “

EFE