Giant dinosaurs at Franklin Institute

CENTER CITY - February 2, 2012 (WPVI) -- A new exhibit at the Franklin Institute features a little-known dinosaur that left a pretty big impact.

"It's bigger than a house!" said 3-year-old Rachel Hicks.

Rachel and her buddy, 3-year-old Bryce Parker, were learning about the new addition to the Giant Mysterious Dinosaurs exhibit at the Franklin Institute.

A five-foot bone cast is from the second-most massive dinosaur known: the Paralititan.

"These animals dwarf any other animal," exhibit creator Don Lessem told Action News. "What people don't realize is that these are ten times bigger than a T.Rex."

"It was probably about 2.5 stories tall, maybe 80 feet long," said Dr. Kenneth Lacovara of Drexel University.

Lacovara was part of the joint team that first discovered the Paralititan, which lived 95 million years ago, in Egypt in 2000.

Lacovara and experts from the Academy of Natural Sciences unveiled the cast of what they excavated. A humerus or upper arm bone gives scientists an idea of how the dinosaur was built and its sheer size.

"In most other dinosaurs this is kind of a small protuberance," said Lacovara, pointing to part of the cast. "In this dinosaur you can see it's incredibly muscled."

A tiny replica sits nearby, part of the latest 3-D technology that helps recreate the creatures on a smaller scale.

"What we can do now is take some of these scans of these bones that we've never seen move or in existence," said Dr. James Tangorra of Drexel. "We can start exploring what those features meant or what it allowed those dinosaurs to do."

This marks the first time any part of the Paralititan has been on display to the public outside of Egypt.

"You'll see more dinosaurs in Philadelphia now then you'll probably get to see in a while," said Dr. Ted Daeschler of the Academy of Natural Sciences.

This is a great time to check out dinosaurs in Philadelphia.

The Giant Dinosaur Deal ticket allows visitors to purchase one combination ticket for general admission to the Franklin and to see Giant Mysterious Dinosaurs, then walk across the street to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University's permanent Discovering Dinosaurs exhibit.

The combo ticket price is $27.50 for adults and $23.50 for children. Academy members visiting The Franklin are $18.50 for adults and $12.25 for children. Franklin members visiting the Academy are $9.00 for adults and $5.00 for children.

Tickets may be purchased at the box offices at the Academy and at The Franklin. The offer runs through March 18.

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philadelphia, pennsylvania, center city, franklin institute, local/state, katherine scott

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