Big Al is a young Allosaurus with whose fossil was found in Wyoming with 19 injuries. Though surviving for a long time, even with 18 nearly healed injuries, his 19th injury, his middle toe on his right foot, which he broke, and it got infected, it ended up killing him due to starvation. He's the titular character of Ballad of Big Al: Walking with Dinosaurs special. In that special, BBC tried to explain how *Big Al* could have lived. Although it is proven that some parts of the Documentation aren’t correct, for example that Big Al isn’t a A. fragilis but a A. jimmadseni, it made a good work on explainig how Big Al could have lived. For many younger people who were born in the late 90’s and early 2000’ *Ballad of Big Al* was one of the first Documentaries about Dinosaurs they watched. That and the fact that he is almost complete made him the Iconic Allosaurus he is today. He is the first dinosaur from WWD series to receive a name and a personality. Later other creatures would get the same thing.
Two young allosaurs see Big Al dead in the dried up riverbed
Big Al dead
Big Al preforming a mating call
Big Als Ghost next to the Skeleton
Young Big Al
A very sad Al head lying in a dusty forgotten warehouse, somewhere in the UK
Big Al Skeleton
Big Al Skeleton (Wonderbook)
Trivia[]
In July 15, 1990 a new Allosaurus specimen was discovered in Utah. Nearly 30 years later as of 2020, the newest Allosaurus species within the genus, has been identified; named Allosaurus jimmadseni, it can be distinguished from Allosaurus fragilis based on the shape of the jugal bone at the corner of the upper jaw, which is straight rather than angular as seen in A. fragilis.
The specimens "Big Al" and "Big Al Two" were reclassified as A. jimmadseni. The Allosaurs in Walking with Dinosaurs, however, being created before the distinction between the two species was known, have the angular jugal bones of A. fragilis.
In the original program, it's stated that Big Al died 145 million BC, while in 1999, stratigraphic work by Turner and Peterson suggests that the "Big Al" and Howe quarries may be roughly 152 million years old, which kind makes more sense since most of the animals that appeared here were already extinct by 145 million BC.
