This took place around 2 years earlier, not long after a current landslide had actually taken place. The landslide had exposed the edge of a cliff where Boschetto, an amateur paleontologist, noticed big bones. His skilled eye rapidly enabled him to ascertain that these were dinosaur fossils. After a few days of excavation with experts from a regional museum, the scientists understood that these were the remains of a Titanosaur, among the largest dinosaurs to have ever walked on Earth.
The substantial fossils needed to be carried with a crane. Credit: Damien Boschetto.
It appeared like any other day for 25-year-old Damien Boschetto, who was out and about walking his canine around the serene landscape of Montouliers, Hérault, France. However its not every day that you get to stumble throughout a 70-million-year-old piece of history.
The find of a lifetime
To make matters even more appealing, when the fossils were organized and put together, they formed a nearly complete 30-foot-long skeleton. Its exceptionally uncommon to discover a dinosaur skeleton so well maintained and total.
Scientist excavated the titanosaur fossils over several 10-day digging sessions. Credit: Damien Boschetto.
An artists rendering of what Savannasaurus elliottorum, a species of titanosaur found in 2016 in Australia, may have looked like. Credit: Travis Tischler/Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History.
Boschetto reported his findings to a regional association dedicated to cultural, historical, and paleontological pursuits. Experts from the association determined the fossil to be roughly 70 million years old, providing an uncommon look into the life of titanosaurs.
Despite the many fossils and tens of countless excavations across the years, discovering a nearly undamaged dinosaur skeleton stays an amazing rarity. To put it into viewpoint, a previous research study highlighted that, despite an approximated 1.7 billion Tyrannosaurus rexes once residing in the Cretaceous period, paleontologists have discovered fossils of less than 100 people. And the majority of these T. rexes are known from partial remains.
Damien Boschetto (left) holding a few of the dinosaur bones he found. Credit: Damien Boschetto.
A discover worth protecting
“The current discovery of a new deposit in the neighboring town of Montouliers provides us with an assemblage of dinosaur skeletons in almost total physiological connections (the bones of the animal are still articulated to each other). This is a very unusual and exceptional discovery in France and Europe,” Boschetto told Newsweek.
The most total T. rex is a specimen called Sue at display at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. The titanosaur found by Boschetto is about 70 percent total.
The discovery has stayed a closely guarded trick up until recently to protect the site from vandals. The dinosaur will quickly be placed on screen at the Cruzy Museum. As for Boschetto, he stated he just recently stopped his job in the energy sector to pursue a masters degree in paleontology. Looks like he will not be an amateur for too long.
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The landslide had exposed the edge of a cliff where Boschetto, an amateur paleontologist, noticed big bones. Boschetto reported his findings to a regional association dedicated to cultural, archaeological, and paleontological pursuits. In spite of the many fossils and tens of thousands of excavations throughout the years, discovering a nearly intact dinosaur skeleton remains an amazing rarity. The titanosaur discovered by Boschetto is about 70 percent total. As for Boschetto, he said he recently stopped his task in the energy sector to pursue a masters degree in paleontology.
