The los angeles museum of natural history surprised everyone. In a new exhibition planned for fall 2024, the establishment will present the skeleton of a dinosaur that is, to say the least, atypical: its bones are entirely green.
Nicknamed Gnatalie, this sauropod-type dinosaur (huge herbivores that include the brontosaurus and brachiosaurus) is thought to have lived 150 million years ago. At over 24 meters long, it is thought to have roamed the Earth’s green plains during the period known as the Upper Jurassic (-161 Ma to -145 Ma).
The Final Cut with LA36!
•
Meet Gnatalie! She’s going to be the new resident at the Natural History Museum.
•
• #la36 #countyofla #nhm #naturalhistorymuseum #dinosaur #wherearewenow #myofficefortheday #onthemove #entertainmentindustry #production #tv #film #industry pic.twitter.com/YTZWxXuukz— LA36 (@LA36TV) July 12, 2024
His skeleton, discovered in the badlands from Utah in 2007, immediately baffled scientists because of its strange greenish color. It is in fact the only dinosaur with such bones ever discovered on Earth. And for good reason: it probably once had a white skeleton, like everyone else.
Celadonite
Gnatalie’s bones actually turned green because of a particular mineral: celadonite. This seeped into the skeleton during volcanic activity, about 50 to 80 million years ago, giving it its distinctive color.
Usually, the extreme conditions of celadonite formation are supposed to completely destroy dinosaur bones buried under sedimentary layers. Here, it is quite the opposite, which makes the discovery even more fascinating and unique in the world.
And that’s not all. According to the media FuturismGnatalie is actually not one, but multiple. The skeleton presented in the museum would actually be a composite montage of several specimens, all belonging to a species of long-necked dinosaur of the Diplodocus type. Truly, there are no two like Gnatalie.
As a little anecdote, the name of this unique specimen, Gnatalie, which refers to the cloud of midges («gnats» in English) that were flying around the fossil when it was discovered, could have been completely different. It was chosen by the citizens of Los Angeles in a vote. Other names in the running included Olive, Esme and Sage.
Source: www.slate.fr
