giganotosaurus

[bobtess@p3.net (Walters & Kissinger)]

        Larry Dunn asks:
        Is that necessarily true as to reliability?  I've heard that the
>     reconstructed skull of Giganotosaurus is pretty inaccurate in size
>     (much too big) and the teeth are way oversize in the reconstruction
>     (the actual teeth are supposedly smaller and thinner than your
>     average-sized tyrannosaurid).  Coria has supposedly conceded that the
>     reconstructed skull "represents an unusually large specimen" (or
>     something like that).

I don't know where these rumors come from!  The skull is quite well
documented, (conveniently, what they dont have on one side of the head,they
have on the other!)  And there is a second individual they've found of
Giganotosaurus which is 10% larger than this one.  The teeth ARE smaller in
proportion to the skull,and almost blade-like; much, much thinner than
T.rex's teeth, implying, I think, a different function on the whole.  We
lived with the skull for 6 mos. and examined the material, and I don't
think there will be any controversy about the accuracy of the few sculpted
bits.  Dr. Coria is being very conservative, knowing what a brouhaha the
largest meat-eater found so far is likely to start.
>

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