Stegosaurus skeleton goes on display at Natural History Museum

A stegosaurus skeleton which went on display in the capital today is the most complete model seen by at a London museum in almost a century.

The six-metre long installation, which is about the size of a small truck, has more than 300 bones.

The exhibit was opened to crowds of visitors at the Natural History Museum today.

Paleontologists discovered the skeleton at the Red Canyon Ranch in the US in 2003. Its left arm and the bottom of its tail were the only parts missing, the museum said.

Scientists will use the impressive fossil as part of a series of important studies in order to develop their understanding of stegosaurs.

Paleontologist Charlotte Brassey told London Live: "This is a really significant purchase for the museum. This is the most complete stegosaur ever known. It is also the only stegosaurus on display outside of Europe.

"The thing that strikes you when you first see her is those gigantic plates.

"The wonderful thing about having such a complete skeleton is we can begin to reconstruct how heavy she was, how heavy she might have been movingm what kind of gait she had, how much food she would have been consuming just to keep herself going.