{.aligncenter .size-full .wp-image-7444 loading=“lazy” attachment-id=“7444” permalink=“http://svpow.com/2013/01/16/plateosaurus-is-pathetic/dscn5593-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus/” orig-file=“https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/dscn5593-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus.jpeg” orig-size=“1280,960” comments-opened=“1”
We’ve shown a lot of sauropod sacra around here lately (for example here, here, and here), so here’s a little look back down the tree. You haven’t heard from me much lately because I’ve been busy teaching anatomy. Still, I get to help people dissect for a living, so I can’t complain.
In the recent post on serial variation in sauropod cervicals, I wrote: Even in ‘adult’ sauropods like the big mounted Apatosaurus and Diplodocus skeletons, the anterior cervicals are less complex than the posterior ones.
UPDATE April 16, 2012: The paper is officially published now. I’ve updated the citation and link below accordingly. More new goodies: Yates, A.M., Wedel, M.J., and Bonnan, M.F. 2012. The early evolution of postcranial skeletal pneumaticity in sauropodomorph dinosaurs. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 57(1):85-100. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4202/app.2010.0075 This is only kinda sorta published.
Why we do mass estimates Mass estimates are a big deal in paleobiology.