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NY Post
New York Post
10 Nov 2023


NextImg:Dinosaur autopsy! 150 million year-old fossil to be hacked up — to see what secrets his bones might reveal

One of the most impressively complete dinosaur fossils ever recovered is getting an autopsy.

Big Al the Allosaurus, a 150-million-year-old resident of Wyoming, recovered 30 years ago and currently 95% complete, will be fully examined by experts at the Museum of The Rockies in Bozeman, Montana, in hopes of fully understanding “the record of its life and times in its bones,” according to museum curator Dr. John Scannella.

Big Al was found near the town of Shell, Wyo., near the state’s Bighorn National Forest, Cowboy State Daily reported. He would have been alive for 17 years during the heyday of the late Jurassic.

A 2002 study of Al showed he suffered 19 different diseases, as well as injuries like broken ribs, a wounded hand, and some major pus filled growths on his right foot.

Now, Scannella is confident he will be able to glean even more personal information about Al’s life and prehistoric times.

Scientists are looking to unlock possible secrets hidden within Big Al’s ancient Allosaurus bones.
Museum of the Rockies

Specifically, he’s focusing on bone histology, he told a reporter — the process of thinly slicing off parts of the fossil for microscopic examination.

That’s how researchers were able to diagnose Al’s many, seemingly painful health defects.

“You can learn a lot from the outside of dinosaur bones,” Scannella said.

“The size, the shape, how big the animal was, was it eating meat or plants. By looking inside the bones there’s a lot more we can uncover. We can get into the details of the paleobiology by looking inside.”

The current focus now lies on “a new chapter beyond the injuries.”

“The more different kinds of studies we can apply to a particular dinosaur, applying different techniques and analyses, the more we can learn about that animal’s life and the world around it…this study will help flesh out the details of this famous dinosaur’s life,” he said.

The Post has reached out to Scannella for further comment.

Al is a large theropod — the same height as a T-Rex, at about 12 meters or 473 inches, and averaging 440 pounds, according to The Museum of Natural History.

A drawing of an Allosaurus.

A drawing of an Allosaurus.
The Natural History Museum

The carnivorous Allosaurus — whose name means “other lizard” — commonly feasted on fellow dinosaurs like the stegosaurus and diplodocus, using their five to ten centimeter-long teeth.

Allosaurus remains have been spotted as far away as Portugal — which, during the late Jurassic, would have been much closer geographically to the modern-day United States.