Giganotosaurus ("giant southern lizard") is a genus of theropod dinosaur
that lived in what is now Argentina, around 99.6 to 97 million years
ago. It was one of the largest known terrestrial carnivores, but the
exact size has been hard to determine from the incomplete remains found
so far. The holotype specimen, discovered in Patagonia in 1993, is
almost 70% complete, and indicates a length of 12 to 13 m (39 to
43 ft), a skull 1.53 to 1.80 m (5.0 to 5.9 ft) in length, and a
weight of 4.2 to 13.8 t (4.6 to 15.2 short tons). A length of 13.2 m
(43 ft) has been extrapolated from another individual's dentary bone.
Some researchers believe the animal to be larger than Tyrannosaurus,
generally considered the largest theropod. The skull was low, with a
ridge-like crest in front of the eye. The teeth were serrated, and the
front of the lower jaw was flattened. Giganotosaurus is thought to have
had a homeothermic metabolism, between that of a mammal and a reptile,
which would have enabled rapid growth but not fast movement. It was
probably the apex predator of its ecosystem, feeding on juvenile
sauropod dinosaurs.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giganotosaurus>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1676:
Virginia colonist Nathaniel Bacon and his makeshift army issued
a Declaration of the People of Virginia, instigating a rebellion against
the rule of Governor William Berkeley.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Bacon_(Virginia_colonist_and_rebel)>
1811:
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, an early leader of the Mexican War
of Independence, was executed by Spanish authorities.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Hidalgo_y_Costilla>
1930:
Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 at Estadio Centenario in
Montevideo to win the first Football World Cup.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1930_FIFA_World_Cup>
1950:
Four striking workers were shot dead by the Gendarmerie' in
Belgium at the height of the political crisis known as the Royal
Question.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Question>
2012:
The largest power outage in history occurred across 22 Indian
states, affecting over 620 million people, or about 9% of the world's
population.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_India_blackouts>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
swank:
1. A fashionably elegant person.
2. Ostentation; bravado.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/swank>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
We let the weirdness in.
--Kate Bush
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kate_Bush>