From Siberia with size: 'New species' of big dinosaur found

In Russia, scientists say they've found enough bones to now identify something we might want to call the Sibirosaurus. And it's a doozy.

by Chris Matyszczyk

One fossil from the reportedly new species.

It's a little like fracking. The more we dig, the scarier our findings.And now, it seems, something terribly scary has been dug up, according to Russian scientists in the heart of Siberia.

My chillingly irregular reading of the Siberian Times tells me that bones boffins at Tomsk State University have unearthed what they believe is a new species of dinosaur.
The fossils were originally dug up in 2008. Having carefully extracted them from the rocks of Siberia, scientists have tried to piece them together and decided that this is a dinosaur of the Titanosauriformes, a group of sauropod dinosaur.
These were creatures with small heads and massive bodies. Perhaps they were the politicians of their day.
The Siberian Times quotes researcher Stepan Ivantsov, who said: "It was the first scientifically described dinosaur from this group in Russia. Now after work on the extraction of all the remnants and the restoration [of the bones] are almost completed, we can confidently say that we have found a new species, and maybe even genus."
I have contacted Tomsk State University to confirm the findings and offer some elucidation on their significance. I will update, should I hear.
These bones, though, are said to come from the banks of the Kiya River in an area known as Shestakovo village.
Siberia has long been regarded as a place where dinosaurs roamed 100 million years ago. Indeed, last year bones from the very same region were said by scientists to be those of Psittacosaurus sibiricus, gazelle-sized characters with a big, pronounced beak.
When it comes to the big boys, though, last year Argentinian scientists declared that they'd found what they said was the biggest dinosaur ever, another variety of titanosaur.
Clearly the dinosaur discovery business is going strong.
The Tomsk State scientists said that they hope to be able to put at least certain body parts on display soon. They also said a foot found in 1995 might have come from the same new species.
It's bracing that this new dinosaur appears to have been named after Siberia. Surely one day someone will discover a Detroitasaurus or a Losangelesaurus. Now they would be monstrosities.