'Thunder Thighs' Dinosaur, Brontomerus Mcintoshi, Discovered In Utah

Back in the Early Cretaceous Period, it paid to have thunder thighs. Fossils recovered from Utah's Hotel Mesa Quarry suggest a newly discovered species had very powerful legs.

The new species, detailed in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, is classified as part of the sauropod family, a group of dinosaurs known for their long necks and tails. According to Discovery News, this dinosaur's neck and tail would have stretched out longer than any living python. The team named the dinosaur Brontomerus mcintoshi -- in Greek, "thunder thighs."

The dinosaur, estimated to be about the size of a large modern elephant, possessed an unusually large hip bone, suggesting enormous thighs. Scientists predict that with the dinosaur's legs, he would have been able to deliver a powerful kick. University College's Dr. Mike Taylor suggests that kicking would have been a display of dominance, a way for males to compete for females. It also would have been helpful in fighting off predators, reports the BBC.

Other recently discovered dinosaurs had different ways to fight off predators. These include the Kosmoceratops, whose 15 horns were used to both attract mates and intimidate rivals, and Eodromaeus, whose quick moves as a predator may have an evolutionary connection to the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Beyond finding a dino with fat thighs, the discovery challenges commonly held beliefs about sauropods -- it was previously thought that sauropods started to disappear in the Early Cretaceous period.

Unfortunately, scientists will not be able to learn as much about "thunder thighs" as they would like. Hotel Mesa Quary has been looted by commercial fossil-hunters, who, according to Dr. Taylor, "left behind broken remnants and smashed bits of bone; and in some cases they were using broken bones to hold down tarpaulins - that's really the most disgraceful aspect of it." If only "thunder thighs" were alive today, perhaps he would've booted them from the site.

Comments

[caroline gray]

05:25 AM on 03/17/2011

thunder thighs is such an unfortunate nickname awwww

[crayola 08b]

04:45 AM on 03/02/2011

what's Kirstie Alley doing in Utah?

[oldgeek1]

06:55 PM on 03/02/2011

Hey Cray or should I say crayon :)

[1Greensix]

08:48 AM on 03/01/2011

Big thighs for kicking? Where do they get these city kids, anyway? Evidently no one associated with this dino has EVER been to Utah, and the surrounding thousand miles of canyons, hills and mountains. The dino had huge thighs because it spent half of its life eating UPHILL and the only way to stabilize its body was with a large base at the bottom of the hill. In other words, its lower half, its thighs and back legs. With its huge long neck it could keep its hind legs on the floor of a canyon and walk its front legs uphill to reach more food. Any kid raised on a dairy farm could figure this out. Kicking? How stupid.

[OHwhatcouldabeenin2000]

05:18 PM on 03/01/2011

The geography of utah today is nowhere near what it was 70 million years ago, so no this is not true

[schrodster]

07:28 PM on 02/28/2011

I saw 2 descendants at the Food Court in a mall last night

[OHwhatcouldabeenin2000]

05:19 PM on 03/01/2011

gabby sidibe?

[Someone Out There]

02:30 PM on 02/28/2011

It would probably be better if you didn't have a picture of a theropod on an article about sauropods. How many people reading this article will think this new species is a relative of T-Rex instead of Brontosaurus?

[getsit]

03:43 PM on 02/28/2011

Hee-Hee. You'd think they'd get this right?

[BobEvansZombie]

01:34 PM on 02/28/2011

Maybe it was at good at dancing.

[noway lv]

03:06 PM on 02/28/2011

. . . Dancing with the Prehistoric-Saurs!

[FTracy3]

01:31 PM on 02/28/2011

I find the "thunder thighs" label for these dinosaurs offensive and extremely insensitive to the impact that such labels can have on young dinosaurs already struggling with the pressures of other predators, meteor impacts, and some religious groups who deny their existence or misplace them in time. Poor body self-image could lead to dino-eating disorders and I think we should think twice before such juvenile name-calling. Thunder thighs? Why not something positive that celebrates lizard curves instead like "voluptuousraptor"?

[Max Shaw]

02:11 PM on 02/28/2011

That was hilarious. Fanned.

[OHwhatcouldabeenin2000]

05:20 PM on 03/01/2011

i love you, fanned and faved

[kareemachan]

12:44 PM on 02/28/2011

And the mess shrub got us into ensures that there are no funds to protect paleontological or anthropologically important sites. And the sad thing is that these looters' knowledge of fossils would fill, maybe, a thimble, and the more important finds end up smashed.

[AnthropologistAmongApes]

01:50 PM on 02/28/2011

Agreed.

[BuckyJamesDio]

12:23 PM on 02/28/2011

The Oprahsaurus was known for its staged generosity as well as its ground-shaking gait, and often collaborated its large-headed counterpart, Bonoceratops. Stedmanoceraptor was rarely seen.

[Wyeyes]

12:18 PM on 02/28/2011

I prefer the term "pear shaped", thank you very much.

[Coma]

12:00 PM on 02/28/2011

"...a group of dinosaurs known for their long necks and tails."

Lol. Lots of dinos had long necks and tails. Much easier to spot a sauropod by the fact that it stands on 4 legs, unlike a theropod.

[venice6]

11:57 AM on 02/28/2011

Shocking photos of the dinosour's thunder thighs.

http://thedailyfix.com/2009/12/17/sarah-palins-ass-and-thighs-have-just-gone-rogue-on-her/

[Dewts]

11:10 AM on 02/28/2011

boom bada boom bada boom bada

[mb526]

10:54 AM on 02/28/2011

wait that thing ate plants? Those are some very sharp teeth for a vegetarian.

[kareemachan]

12:45 PM on 02/28/2011

I was thinking the same thing. Stock photo, I'm guessing.

[AveragePatriot]

10:48 AM on 02/28/2011

I want to see a pic of Palin riding it.... She would probably say that the dinos practiced abstinence...