Determine body mass dinosaur skeleton ‘Sophie’ – The Costa Rica Nation

A team of British scientists calculated the body mass of stegosaurus Sophie, a herbivorous dinosaur is estimated lived 150 million years ago and weighed about 1.6 tons, reported the Natural History Museum, London .

With 85% of its intact skeleton more than any other estegosarurio in the world, this fossil, 5.6 meters high and 2.9 meters long , 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 old when his weight of 1,600 kilograms resembled that of a small rhinoceros, although its size would have been considerably higher if it had continued to grow.

“If we estimate the rate at which runs an animal, one must know the body mass. If you want to know something about their metabolism, there he know your body mass, “he told the BBC Charlotte Brassey, a paleontologist at the Museum of Natural History (NHM, its acronym in English).

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, scientists went through the scanner 360 bones that make up the skeleton to digitize and create “three-dimensional models” with which reach then 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 technique especially valid for specimens of extinct species of which there are few remains.

“But Sophie is exceptional because it is almost complete. I have spent the last year digitizing its entire skeleton, creating three-dimensional models. These we import a CAD (computer aided design) program and then wrap it very simple shapes around your body contour, whose volume helps us predict body mass, “said Brassey.

Results from both methods (modern and traditional) have agreed, said paleontologist.

The team of experts from NHM continues still immersed in extensive research on Sophie and expected 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 attach muscles to our computer models to (Sophie) take a walk and tell us something about their motor skills. “