The Natural History Museum in Los Angeles is preparing to unveil a unique addition to its dinosaur exhibit: Gnatalie, a green-boned dinosaur, the only one of its kind ever discovered. This extraordinary find has captivated paleontologists and dinosaur enthusiasts alike, promising to shed new light on the prehistoric era.
An Ancient Giant
Gnatalie, dubbed after the pesky gnats at the dig site, popped up in 2007 in Utah’s Badlands. What really makes this dinosaur stand out isn’t just its kind, but its uniquely green bones. These bones sport a dark mottled olive green hue, thanks to celadonite, a mineral that seeped in during fossilization.
Celadonite forms under volcanic or hydrothermal conditions, which typically destroy buried bones. But somewhere between 50 to 80 million years back, volcanic rumbles cooked up the perfect conditions for celadonite to swap in for an older mineral in the fossils, gifting them that odd green tint.
Gnatalie roamed the earth during the late Jurassic, about 150 million years ago, making her a cool 80 million years older than the famed T. rex. A plant-munching giant with a long neck and tail, Gnatalie is part of the sauropod gang, rubbing shoulders with big names like Brontosaurus and Brachiosaurus. Stretching nearly 80 feet, Gnatalie will be the biggest dino to grace the museum’s halls.
Scientific Significance
Luis M. Chiappe, the director of the museum’s Dinosaur Institute, emphasized the educational value of Gnatalie. “Dinosaurs are a great vehicle for teaching our visitors about the nature of science,” he said. “What better than a green, almost 80-foot-long dinosaur to engage them in the process of scientific discovery and make them reflect on the wonders of the world we live in!”
The discovery of Gnatalie has already sparked excitement within the scientific community. Matt Wedel, an anatomist and paleontologist at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California, recalled hearing “rumors of a green dinosaur” during his graduate studies. Seeing Gnatalie’s bones for the first time, he noted, “They were not like anything else that I’ve ever seen.”
John Whitlock, a sauropod researcher and professor at Mount Aloysius College in Pennsylvania, highlighted the significance of having such a complete skeleton. “It’s tremendously huge,” Whitlock said. “It really adds to our ability to understand both taxonomic diversity and anatomical diversity.”
Community Engagement and Upcoming Exhibit
The museum engaged the public in naming the dinosaur, offering five choices: Verdi, Olive, Esme, Sage, and Gnatalie. The name Gnatalie clinched the top spot in a public vote last month, showing off the community’s say-so and the museum’s push to make science something everyone can dig into and enjoy.
Gnatalie’s bones are currently being mounted and prepared for display. Visitors can gawk at this ancient behemoth in the museum’s shiny new welcome center this fall. Gnatalie’s big reveal is set to pull in crowds from all corners, eager to catch a glimpse of this unique spectacle.
Alongside the exhibit, a scientific paper laying out all the juicy details about Gnatalie will drop next year. This will provide the scientific community with valuable insights and further cement Gnatalie’s place in paleontological history.
As the only known green-boned dinosaur, Gnatalie represents a rare and remarkable chapter in the story of our planet’s ancient past. The upcoming exhibit at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles promises to be a landmark event, celebrating this unique discovery and the ongoing wonders of scientific exploration.
Gnatalie’s unveiling at the Natural History Museum marks a significant milestone in paleontology. As the only green-boned dinosaur, she not only fascinates visitors but also enriches our understanding of prehistoric life. This exhibit invites the community to engage with science and marvel at the mysteries of our planet’s ancient history.
