Vertebrae of Alamosaurus

Ten vertebrae of the 65-million-year-old dinosaur which were uncovered in 1997 are being prepared to be displayed at the Perot Museum of Nature & Science in Victory Park during its opening in 2012.

Tony Fiorillo, the curator of earth sciences at the museum said that no one would have ever seen the neck of an Alamosaurus before. He also said that they're not the biggest vertebrae ever found, but they're certainly the biggest ever excavated in Texas.

The cervical bones were found in the Big Bend National Park in West Texas by accident. They weren't taken out of the park until 2001. Only after extended negotiations with Big Bend officials, they were moved out. Since the vertebrae were so heavy, some had to be airlifted out of the park by helicopter.

Now they sit in the museum's basement in plaster casts, waiting to be uncovered by the museum's fossil preparators. It takes six to seven months to chip away at all the plaster and uncover the bone and get it ready for the museum.

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