By Tim Binnall
A paleontology dig in France turned into something of a celebration thanks to the discovery of a jaw-dropping six-and-a-half-foot long dinosaur bone. The enormous find, a femur which weighs a whopping 880 pounds, was reportedly made during an excavation in a region of southern France which has yielded a vast array of fossils from numerous creatures over the last decade. However, this particular piece of proverbial ancient history left even the most seasoned bone hunters amazed.
According to the doctoral student who first stumbled upon the bone, the team's sense of wonder grew exponentially as they keep digging around the fossil and realized just how big it was. Maxime Lasseron marveled that, "we kept saying, 'Oh, there's more!'" Beyond the colossal size of the find, its well-preserved state also proved to be a surprise to the researchers. "It cost me a bit of money," said team leader Jean-Francois Tournepiche, "because I had promised to bring champagne if it was complete."
As to where the bone originated, scientists say that it came from a type of dinosaur known as a sauropod, which were colossal plant-eating creatures perhaps best exemplified by the iconic Brontosaurus. Researchers hope to compare the newfound fossil to a similar femur unearthed in the same area back in 2010 to see if there might be a match. They also suggested that future amazing discoveries from the region could come about in the next few years as they've recently been granted access by the property owner to a sizeable swath of land which team leader declared could keep them "busy for the next 30 years."