Posted: Jan 24, 2012 1:15 PM
Updated: Jan 24, 2012 2:56 PM
TUCSON - In this raw video clip, several workers from Triebold Paleontology carefully align and set the back vertebrae of an apatosaurus, a giant plant-eater from the Jurassic Period.
Triebold Paleontology took the Apatosaurus skeleton from the University of Wyoming Geological Science Museum and created replica molds from the original fossil. The company has brought the enormous skeleton to display during the Gem and Mineral Show.
The original fossil was discovered by a Carnegie Museum expedition in the 1800s and was given to the state of Wyoming. When Triebold began the process of creating replicas, the skeleton was "literally being held together with chicken wire, plaster of Paris, brick mortar, bubble gum - we found all kinds of stuff stuck on that dinosaur," says Tracie Bennitt with Triebold.
The company cleaned up the fossils, did restoration work, mold and cast each individual bone, and began creating replicas, Bennitt says. The specimen on display in Tucson is over 80 feet long, stands 17 feet tall, and will wind up at a museum in Tennessee.
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