Episode 275 is all about Dicraeosaurus, the first discovered sauropod with paired spines running down its neck.
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In this episode, we discuss:
News:
- A pair of noasaurid bones from Australia expand the known range to nearly all of Gondwana source
- The first case of LCH (Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis) was found in a dinosaur source
- The Utahraptor Project has moved their massive sandstone block to a new location source
- A new article ranks the US states in order of most dinosaur fossils discoveries source
- The Illinois Burpee Museum of Natural History’s PaleoFest is coming up on March 6–8 source
- Mobile, Alabama celebrated Mardi Gras with a parade that included a Velociraptor puppeteer source
- Giant Screen Films recently released the film Dinosaurs of Antarctica source
- LucasFilm is launching Star Wars; The High Republic, and may include dinosaurs source
- Jurassic World 3 is now officially Jurassic World: Dominion source
The dinosaur of the day: Dicraeosaurus
- Diplodocoid sauropod that lived in the Late Jurassic in what is now Tanzania (Tendaguru Hill)
- About 39 ft (12 m) long
- Small for a sauropod
- Estimated to weigh 8800-11000 lb (4000-5000 kg); around same weight as an elephant
- Did not have a whiplash tail
- Did not have has much pneumaticity in the vertebrae as other sauropods, such as Brachiosaurus
- Replaced teeth quickly, around every 20 days for the prexmaillary and rostral maxillary teeth and 50 days for the rostral dentary teeth
- Had a large head, and a relatively short, wide neck
- Neck had 12 short vertebrae
- Probably a low browser (could eat food on the ground and leaves up to about 10 ft or 3 m off the ground)
- Had a double row of neural spines on its back
- Spines on the vertebrae were “Y” shaped, like a fork (which led to its name)
- Spines also had muscle attachment points
- Type species is Dicraeosaurus hansemanni
- Genus name means “bifurcated” or “double-headed” or “two forked lizard”
- Described in 1914 by Werner Janensch
- Second species is Dicraeosaurus sattleri
- Not much info on the different species, but looks like there were both named in 1914, and may have been found in a 1909 excavation
- Other dinosaurs that lived around the same time and place include Giraffatitan and Kentrosaurus (ate vegetation at different heights, so they could all live together)
Fun Fact: Dinosaurs (at least Oviraptorids) eggs hatched sporadically like some modern birds, not all at once like modern crocodiles.
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