Depending on how you look at it, it took less than 30 minutes or more than 72 million years for the Lophorhothon atopus to make it to the Fernbank Museum of Natural History. Either way, the mama dinosaur and her two tykes were greeted with applause when the trucks hauling them turned into the museum's long entry drive Monday morning.
Causing double takes and a few hastily snapped photos by motorists, the bronzed creatures had been trucked from Chisel 3D's studio, down I-75 and then Freedom Parkway, to their new reflecting pool home, Fernbank's Entry Plaza.
But you could also say that the 24-foot-long mom, who commanded her own flatbed, and her two offspring have been winding their way here since the Cretaceous Period, when they lumbered across parts of Georgia. Paleontologists discovered their remains in the 1940s and recognized Lophorhothon atopus as a distinct species in 1960.
When Fernbank decided several years ago that it wanted its austere entry area to look more alive, the first full-scale life reconstruction of the native dinos was set in motion.
Aiming for absolute accuracy, James Hays, Fernbank's vice president of exhibitions, who started by making small-scale models based on his own research, consulted extensively with David Schwimmer and Tony Martin, professors and dinosaur experts at Columbus State and Emory universities, respectively.
Based on the research, Hays said he was "extremely confident" that the dinos are accurate "as of 2009."
In other words, it's possible that in 2020, a paleontologist may have additional information to know that the Lophorhothon atopus should have been depicted, say, with another vertebrae.
"This is not eye candy," Hays said. "It's now part of the scientific process."
Nonetheless, Fernbank hopes the trio will inspire countless visitor snapshots. They'll be the stars of a Dinosaur Block Party on May 30, part of a "90 Days of Dinosaurs" series.
Tim Cross, the trucker who hauled the mama, was ready to celebrate her safe arrival on Monday. "Can't say I've ever hauled a dinosaur before," the laconic trucker said, noting it was nice that people cheered upon his arrival, something else that doesn't happen every day.
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