Gordo (dinosaur)

Gordo is the nickname given to ROM 3670, a dinosaur exhibited at Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum, which is one of the most complete specimens of the Barosaurus genus in North America (another can be found at the American Museum of Natural History in New York) and the largest dinosaur on display in Canada.[1][2] This specimen is over 90 feet (27 m) long and is on display in the James and Louise Temerty Galleries of the Age of Dinosaurs.[3][4]

Panoramic view of Gordo at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto

In 1912, a Carnegie excavation team unearthed three nearly complete Barosaurus skeletons in a quarry in Utah.[5] The quarry has become part of the Dinosaur National Monument Fossil Quarry, where a number of complete dinosaur specimens have been unearthed since its discovery in 1909. There are many layers of the fossil quarry, some of the earliest dating to 144 million years ago and over 70 tons of material was collected from the site for the Pennsylvania Carnegie Museum..

Gordo's skull

Around 1962, one specimen from the Pennsylvania collection was transferred to the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada, to be included in their new dinosaur gallery.[6] Once it arrived it was put into storage, as the museum had run out of floor space in the gallery.[7] There is sat for the next 40 years. In 2007, curator David Evans was on the hunt for an example of a sauropod (a group of dinosaurs including Barosaurus) to add to the ROM's collection when he read an article about a specimen in storage at the ROM. What Evans found was a nearly complete fossil of the Barosaurus. Today, the specimen is a centerpiece in the dinosaur exhibit.

See also
Gordo's front end, with a Camptosaurus specimen and a Giraffatitan specimen in the background

References
  1. Sibonney, Claire (12 December 2007). "Canadian museum unveils long, long-lost dinosaur". ca.reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  2. Museum Secrets. . The History Channel. (retrieved October 2013)
  3. Evans, David. "Iconic Must See Treasures of the ROM" . Royal Ontario Museum. (retrieved October 2013)
  4. Paleontologyworld, March 16, 2021
  5. Tucciarone, Joe. Barosaurus "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)(retrieved October 2013)
  6. CTV.ca News Staff (2007). ROM to unveil rare dino bones found in basement.
  7. Switek, Brian (2011). The Rediscovery of Gordo the Barosaurus Smithsonian Institution. (retrieved October 2013)


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