Prehistoric Life/Dinosaurs/Sauropods: Difference between revisions

{{tropeUseful Notes}}

* What is the thing that has really made sauropods the most iconic plant-eating dinosaurs? [[Rhetorical Question Blunder|Their size]], useless to say. But there are few doubts that their unbelievably long necks have done their part, too. But wait: if you think ''Brachiosaurus'' and ''Diplodocus'' have disproportionately vast necks, is only because you’ve never seen their Chinese cousin: ''Mamenchisaurus''. The latter’s neck was so long that, if the animal would be still alive today, we could see it drinking some water from a lake with its forelimbs placed 12 m (40 ft) or even 15 m (50 ft) from the shore! In other words: the neck of ''Mamenchisaurus'' was ''longer than a whole T. rex was from nose to tail''. This record has made ''Mamenchisaurus'' one of the most famed sauropods as well as one of the most classic Chinese dinosaurs. <ref> It’s worth noting, however, that the classic record of “Whoa the longest-neck!” is now disputed now by the fragmentary ''Sauroposeidon''</ref>. Discovered in 1954, ''Mamenchisaurus'' lived in the same age of the stock sauropods (Late Jurassic). Initially believed a close ''Diplodocus'' relative, now is thought a more archaic kind of sauropod which incidentally reached a similar shape, though with a much shorter tail [[Science Marches On|ending with a small club]]. Since the head of ''Mamenchisaurus'' has long been unknown, the most classic portraits show it with an inaccurate ''Diplodocus''-like head; actually ''Mamenchisaurus'' head was more similar to ''Camarasaurus''. In short, the polar opposite of what has happened to the allegedly boxy ''Apatosaurus'' head. To date, the only significative apparition ''Mamenchisaurus'' has made in pop-culture was a extremely brief cameo in ''[[Jurassic Park]] 2''. It was unidentified and unnamed, maybe the only dinosaur in the [[Jurassic Park]] film-series that has not become Stock after that. As it seems, [[Sarcasm Mode|four pop-cultural sauropods are just too many]].

* [[Overshadowed by Awesome]] seems a common trope among dinosaurs. We see a dinosaur, remain struck by its awesomeness… but later, another similar yet even cooler dinosaur takes its place in our mind. ''Barosaurus'' could be an example. 8/9 m long, its neck was one of the longest in the whole Animal Kingdom, but is definitively overshadowed by the 12/15 m long neck of ''Mamenchisaurus'' (as well as that of the brachiosaurs). Discovered in USA at the end of the Bone Wars, ''Barosaurus'' was the closest relative of ''Diplodocus'', and lived as well in Late Jurassic North America; some possible remains from Africa are also known, but are fragmentary and undiagnostic. ''Barosaurus'' was virtually identical to ''Diplodocus'' except for its shorter tail counterbalanced by the longer neck. Its was one of the longest sauropods, only a bit shorter than a diplodocus. ''Barosaurus'' means “heavy lizard”: though apt for a sauropod, is not totally appropriate. Having the same slender frame of ''Diplodocus'', the barosaur weighed less than other sauropods. Its lower notoriety is probably due to the fact ''Barosaurus'' remains are less abundant than the ''Diplodocus'' ones. However, ''Barosaurus'' has gained more fame when a barosaur skeleton was mounted in the American Museum of Natural History in the 1980s. This skeleton is the dino-star of the museum, being mounted erected on the hindlimbs and the tail; 15 m tall, is shown defending its youngster from an attacking ''Allosaurus''. In the same years, one bizarre suggestion was made about its physiology: with such a long neck, ''Barosaurus'' may have had eight hearts to pump blood up to its lofty head. There isn’t any evidence for this idea, which is now generally discarded as “weird fantasy”.

The armored brontosaur: ''[[wikipedia:Saltasaurus|Saltasaurus]]''

* When we think about “armored” dinosaurs, our mind automatically goes to things such as ''[[Stock Dinosaurs|Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Ankylosaurus]]''. Thus, if you are a layman, you could be astonished if we tell you that there was also an armored ''sauropod''. Scientists themselves were surprised when such an animal was discovered in 1980 in the Argentinian province of Salta: they called it ''Saltasaurus'' (not “Salt'''o'''saurus”, please). It walked around 80 million years after the overused "three stock band", almost managing to see the [[Rock Falls Everyone Dies|comet]]. ''Saltasaurus'' armor was different-looking than ''Ankylosaurus'' armor. It had no spikes, and was made by several small bony scutes of different size, covering all the upper parts of its torso like a mosaic. Though apparently much lighter than an ankylosaur’s, it would have been enough to defend the sauropod against predators like the contemporary “horned” ''Carnotaurus''. The scientific importance of ''Saltasaurus'' raised up even more after the discovery (made at the end of the 1990s) of a fossilized breeding-site full of nests and hatchlings, the very first known from a sauropod. These remains were attributed to ''Saltasaurus'', but we are not sure if they pertain to its genus. ''Saltasaurus'' is also a member of that subgroup of sauropods called titanosaurs (see below): since its discovery, armor plates of several other titanosaurs have since been found, although more incomplete. However, ''Saltasaurus'' was considerably smaller than many other sauropods (it was only 12 m long and not much heavier than an elephant); and, not counting the bony plates, its shape was that of a generic sauropod. This might partially explain why, despite its [[Badass]]-look, ''Saltasaurus'' has remained a non-fictional animal unlike ''Carnotaurus''.

* Which were the biggest animals ever, whales or dinosaurs? Hard question, depends on what criterium you want to use. ''Cetiosaurus'', the first sauropod ever described, just means “whale-lizard”. But this is not a mere reference to its huge size; it was ''literally'' believed a whale-thing at one point. First found in 1842 in England slightly after Richard Owen coined the word “dinosaur”, its first remains were so incomplete that Owen couldn’t believe such a heavy animal could live on land. Since limb bones were missing, he thought the owner was a non-dinosaurian ''marine reptile'' (remember sea-reptiles were already very well-known at the time). When the limb bones were discovered several decades after, the familiar image of an elephantine “reptile” with long neck and tail came to light. Though not a Wastebin-taxon like ''[[Stock Dinosaurs|Megalosaurus]]'', ''Cetiosaurus'' could thus be seen as its sauropodian equivalent - incidentally, lived just alongside ''Megalosaurus'' in Middle Jurassic Europe, but has been found in North Africa too. ''Cetiosaurus'' has been the archetypical “basal” sauropod, and lived ''before'' the Stock Trio. Among the cetiosaur's primitive traits, it had compact vertebrae instead of hollow - cavities in the backbone is a typical feature of more evolved sauropods like ''Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, Brachiosaurus'' and ''Camarasaurus'' (the latter’s name just meaning [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|lizard with cavities]]). Unfortunately for ''Cetiosaurus'', these sauropods were discovered in North America just in the period of the former’s correct interpretation, Their bigger size and/or their greater completeness meant ''Cetiosaurus'' was progressively put under the table. Making things worse, the cetiosaur has also a very generic look with no external traits that would make it recognizable. In short, this “whale of dinosaur” was predestined to become an only-book animal.

* ''Diplodocus'' (and ''Apatosaurus'' of course) had many relatives. Not only some real or alleged “biggest dinosaurs ever” (''Supersaurus'', ''Amphicoelias''), but also many other smaller, usually more primitive animals: ''Dicraeosaurus'' for example. Found in the famous Tendaguru deposit, it’s the smallest member of the classic Late Jurassic African [[Power Trio|Sauropod Trio]] (the other two have usually been called “Barosaurus” and “Brachiosaurus”, but they probably aren’t). With its short, Apatosaur-like neck and a long, Diplodocus-like tail, ''Dicraeosaurus'' could have had a ridge on its back, but this is not sure. His South American Early Cretaceous relative, ''Amargasaurus'', surely had this. Its pairs of neural spines which arose from its neck perhaps substained a sail, or maybe were covered in keratin, making them true spikes for defense. Still another relative, the recently-discovered ''Brachytrachelopan'' (also South American but Jurassic) was even weirder; with its extremely shortened neck, it didn't seem even a sauropod! <ref> Indeed South America has gifted many odd sauropods in recent years: ''Agustinia'' had long, raised bony plates very Stegosaur-like. ''Bonitasaura'' had uniquely a horny beak put ''behind'' the frontal teeth.</ref> Other diplodocoids were still more primitive than the above: ''Rebbachisaurus'' from Cretaceous Sahara maybe still hadn’t a whip-like tail. Its family also contains ''Nigersaurus'', whose well-preserved skull shows strange grinding teeth. Some sauropods are controversial if they were diplodocoids, or not: ''Haplocanthosaurus'' could be a more basal sauropod. It lived alongside the “stock sauropod trio” "Apato"-"Diplo"-''Brachiosaurus'' in Late Jurassic North America, but is rarer and extremely less-portrayed. Also living along the latter was ''Eobrontosaurus'', a very Apatosaurus-like diplodocid which has partially resuscitated “Brontosaurus” in the official dinosaur list. Finally, two examples from Late Cretaceous Mongolia: ''Nemegtosaurus'' and ''Quaesitosaurus'' (maybe one and the same), both known from one single Diplodocus-like skull. Since Late Cretaceous sauropods were titanosaurs, the question is: were they late-surviving diplodocoids, or just ''Diplodocus''-like titanosaurs? In 2000, the discovery in Madagascar of ''Rapetosaurus'', a very complete Late Cretaceous titanosaur with a clearly ''Diplodocus''-shaped head, reveals the second option being the more likely.

[[Category:Prehistoric Life Sauropods]]