FACT SHEET: Diplodocus

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FACT SHEET: diplodocus NAME: DIPLODOCUS (dip-LAW-doh-kus), meaning: "Double-beam" SIZE: 90 feet long (the size of an airplane), weighed 15 tons TYPE OF DIET: Herbivore (leaves from conifer trees) WHEN: Early Jurassic period (155 - 145 million years ago) WHERE: Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming, North America Diplodocus was one of the largest sauropod plant-eaters during the Jurassic period. It lived between 155 and 145 million years ago. Diplodocus grew to be about 90 feet long. That’s about as large as an airplane. Its nostrils were at the top of its head. Some paleontologists believed that this allowed Diplodocus to spend more of its time underwater. Now we believe this dinosaur was more of a land creature. From fossils we have learned that Diplodocus had a row of small spikes running down its back. This was useful protective armor for these large creatures. The name “Diplodocus” means "double-beamed”. This unusual name comes from the bones on the bottom of its tail. The vertebrae along its tail had extra T-shaped bones pointing downwards. These strange bones let Diplodocus hold its long tail straight out behind it. With this extra support, Diplodocus could move its tail around like a whip. Diplodocus was an herbivore, meaning that it only ate plants. It had small, blunt teeth, but only in the front of its mouth. This was useful for stripping leaves off trees. Its main food was the leaves from conifers. Paleontologists believe it had to eat between 300 and 400 pounds of leaves a day! Diplodocus may have moved from place to place in large groups or herds. When a group had eaten all the food in one area, they would migrate - or travel - to another place. They could live to be 100 years old. Dinosaur Days TM © 2010 Distant Train, inc. (www.distanttrain.com) all rights reserved.

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By HENRY FAIRFIELD OSBORN and CHARL
VoL. 6, 1920 PALAEONTOLOGY: OSBORN AND MOOK IS RECONSTRUCTION OF THE SKELETON OF THE SAUROPOD DINOSAUR CAMARASA URUS COPE (MOROSA URUS MARSH) By HENRY FAIRFIELD OSBORN AND CHARLES CRAIG MOOK AMERICAN MusEUM or NATURAL HISTORY, NEW YORK CITY Read before the Academy, November 11, 1919 The principles of modern research in vertebrate palaeontology are illustrated in the fifteen years' work resulting in the restoration of the massive sauropod dinosaur known as Camarasaurus, the "chambered saurian.." The animal was found near Canyon City, Colorado, in March, 1877. The first bones were described by Cope, August 23, 1877. The first at- tempted restoration was by Ryder, December 21, 1877. The bones analyzed by this research were found probably to belong to six individuals of Camarasaurus mingled with the remains of some carnivorous dinosaurs, all from the summit of the Morrison formation, now regarded as of Jurassic- Cretaceous age. In these two quarries Cope named nine new genera and fourteen new species of dinosaurs, none of which have found their way into. palaeontologic literature, excepting Camarasaurus. Out of these twenty-three names we unravel three genera, namely: One species of Camarasaurus, identical with Morosaurus Marsh. One species of Amphicaclias, close to Diplodocus Marsh. One species of Epanterias, close to Allosaurus Marsh. The working out of the Camarasaurus skeleton results in both the artica ulated restoration and the restoration of the musculature. The following are the principal characters: The neck is very flexible; anterior vertebrae of the back also freely movable; the division between the latter and the relatively rigid posterior dorsals is sharp.
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20659724.Pdf
CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by RERO DOC Digital Library Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30(2):442–457, March 2010 © 2010 by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology ARTICLE DESCRIPTION OF A NEARLY COMPLETE JUVENILE SKULL OF DIPLODOCUS (SAUROPODA: DIPLODOCOIDEA) FROM THE LATE JURASSIC OF NORTH AMERICA JOHN A. WHITLOCK,*,1 JEFFREY A. WILSON,1 and MATTHEW C. LAMANNA2 1Museum of Paleontology and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, 1109 Geddes Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1079, U.S.A., [email protected], [email protected]; 2Section of Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213-4080, U.S.A., [email protected] ABSTRACT—More than any other sauropod dinosaur group, the long-necked herbivores belonging to Diplodocoidea have been deﬁned by their skulls. Their unique skull shape, which is extremely elongate antorbitally, with a transversely broad, square snout packed at its anterior extreme with narrow-crowned, pencil-like teeth, has served as a touchstone for describing the biology of these animals ever since the discovery of the ﬁrst skull in the late 19th century. In particular, the unusual diplodocoid skull has been discussed frequently in the context of examining feeding behavior, spawning hypotheses ranging from branch stripping, propalinal shearing, and aquatic plant ‘grazing.’ Here, we describe a juvenile skull of Diplodocus (Carnegie Museum 11255) that does not share the unusually blunted snout and anteriorly sequestered teeth seen in adult specimens, suggesting that adults and juveniles may have differed greatly in their feeding behavior, an ontogenetic distinction that may be unique among sauropodomorphs.
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