I Know Dino Podcast: Diplodocus (Episode 3)


After being tweeted about Dippy the Diplodocus being faraway from the Pure Historical past Museum in London, England, we determined to dedicate an episode to Diplodocus. 

Yow will discover our free podcast, with all our episodes, on iTunes at:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-know-dino/id960976813?mt=2

On this episode, we talk about:

  • The dinosaur of the day: Diplodocus.
  • Diplodocus means “Double Beam,” and it might have lived so long as 50 to 80 years.
  • Diplodocus lived within the Jurassic which is roughly a 148 to 150 million years in the past.
  • Diplodocus is among the most on-display dinosaurs on the planet,.
  • Diplodocus has a whip-tail; scientists suppose that it might have been capable of break the sound barrier.
  • Diplodocus had completely different tooth from other forms of plant consuming dinosaurs. It had tooth that would strip leaves off as a substitute of biting leaves in clumps.
  • Diplodocus was thought of the longest dinosaur for fairly some time till longer dinosaurs had been ultimately found.
  • Diplodocus is within the household Diplodocidae.
  • Enjoyable Truth: Diplodocus awoke and slept each time it needed, whatever the hour.

For individuals who might favor studying, see beneath for the complete transcript:

Garret: Whats up and welcome to I do know Dino. I’m Garret.

Sabrina: And I’m Sabrina.

Garret: And at this time we’re going to speak about one thing a bit of completely different. We received a put up on our twitter from–

Sabrina: A tweet?

Garret: Yeah, one would possibly say.

Sabrina: So we received a tip from a reporter Joshua from the London Night Customary that in 2017 the long-lasting Diplodocus that greets guests on the London Nationwide Historical past Museum can be gone and get replaced by a blue whale.

Garret: Particularly a blue whale skeleton, and I believe probably the most ridiculous factor about that is the truth that they’re changing a skeleton of a dinosaur, technically the forged of the skeleton of the dinosaur, with the skeleton of a whale. And I all the time really feel that it makes a number of sense to have the skeleton of a dinosaur on show as a result of we don’t know precisely what they seemed like. There are a number of guesses you may make primarily based on the marks on the bone you possibly can see the place the muscle hooked up and issues like that so you possibly can guess how large they’d be, you possibly can guess from pores and skin impressions what their pores and skin may need been like however issues like feathers or colour of the pores and skin or actual styles and sizes of sentimental tissues you possibly can by no means actually inform for certain. So mounting scales is admittedly one of the best scientific option to show what we all know concerning the creature however with a blue whale everyone is aware of what they appear to be, you possibly can exit into the ocean, just about each ocean on earth has blue whales in them at a while or one other, so you possibly can go whale watching if you wish to see a whale. When you actually into it you may get some scuba gear and you’ll swim close to a blue whale; everybody has seen these cool footage who has a tiny little particular person subsequent to a blue whale however dinosaur clearly can’t try this.

Sabrina: The opposite factor is, effectively to begin with the Diplodocus has a reputation. It’s often called Dippy which, how are you going to eliminate one thing named Dippy? Hanging a blue whale from a museum isn’t a brand new concept; truly it’s iconic at New York’s American Museum of Pure Historical past. There are some variations, for instance, the one in New York is 94 toes lengthy and weighs about 21 thousand kilos as a result of it’s fabricated from fiber-glass and it’s primarily based on photographs of a useless whale that was present in 1925, whereas the blue whale that can be up on show in London is 83 toes lengthy and the skeleton is actual. However the blue whale in New York has been on show since 1969 they usually’ve even renovated it and when the Irma and Paul Millstone Household Corridor of Ocean Life was reopened to the general public in 2003, that’s once they made certain to make some modifications to the blue whale and make it extra correct.

Garret: Yeah and going into that corridor it’s actually hanging, you often enter on the second ground, truly it’s essential to enter the second ground, and also you go proper out proper in entrance of you is a gigantic blue whale hanging from the ceiling, and as you stroll across the fringe of the room you see all kinds of scenes arrange, completely different animals and completely different settings most round […] I believe a few of them is perhaps false, just like the whale, however you see precisely what the animals appear to be in actual life and that’s as a result of clearly we all know what they give the impression of being in actual life, after which you possibly can go down beneath the whale you possibly can go down some stairs and you’ll lookup at it and actually see how large it’s and I like to take a seat beneath it and lookup at it, actually simply absorb how large it was, which was fairly superior. I can’t think about attempting to that sort of factor with a skeleton of a whale. I consider each time I see a skeleton of like a horse you take a look at it and also you’re simply spending all of your time considering like, wow that horse skulls appears to be like actually bizarre. In comparison with what a horse head appears to be like like and also you’re not desirous about, ohh we have to preserve the atmosphere as a result of in any other case all of the horses are gone, flip into skeleton which is a part of the rationale that the curator on the British Museum is utilizing for eliminating Dippy and placing within the blue whale, that blue whales are extra related to the trendy conservation effort than the Diplodocus is.

Sabrina: We even have seen a whale skeleton I don’t bear in mind if it was a blue whale on the Santa Barbara Pure Historical past Museum.

Garret: Yeah they’ve it sitting outdoors on the Santa Barbara.

Sabrina: It’s actual however, and it’s in all probability one of many greatest shows however, being in Santa Barbara it’s a a lot smaller scale museum.

Garret: Yeah however it’s simply creepy to have a skeleton and issues in our life, I imply it’s simply bizarre after which the one other key argument that they use is that the Diplodocus is a pretend, you already know it’s only a forged, it’s not the true factor, and they need to have the true factor up on show trigger they’re a museum. However historically that’s under no circumstances what museums are about. Museums are about holding artifacts round and capable of be studied after which they’ve an ancillary part which is exhibiting displays to the general public in order that they care concerning the atmosphere; they will study science or no matter however actually the aim of the museum is a learning establishment and so it’s true that in a number of museums the issues that you will note on show are […] pretend they are going to be forged or replicas or..

Sabrina: Dioramas?

Garret: Sure, another kind of you already know […] pretend, and specifically like we talked about in our first podcast the Black Hills Institute makes a number of T-rex casts and ships them out everywhere in the world as a result of when you’re attempting to dig up issues which can be 150 million years previous you solely discover so lots of them and discovering a whole skeleton is fairly tough so you find yourself making casts and mixing issues then so that you get a very good show.

Sabrina: Properly I believe just like the Triceratops within the Smithsonian in D.C. is made up of bunch of various, was a duplicate constituted of a bunch of various Triceratops fossils–undoubtedly not all the identical physique.

Garret: And it makes good sense as a result of Triceratops bones are particularly onerous to search out as a result of they’re such a meals supply for the opposite guys and so yow will discover their skulls all over the place as a result of you possibly can’t eat the massive horns and the large frail of bone however discovering a leg bone or an arm prefer it’s a fore-leg and a rear-leg bone of the identical skeleton is perhaps tough. However so far as the general public is anxious you go there and also you need to see what the animal seemed like, you need to see what their bones organized into. You don’t actually care that this won’t be the precise authentic, that’s a 150 million years previous, and to that finish, there’s no such factor as an actual Diplodocus skeleton. Everybody is aware of that fossils aren’t the precise bone what it’s, is the bone is in a layer of rock and over time the bone is changed by stones so a fossil itself isn’t the precise skeleton of a I it’s itself a model of a duplicate. So it’s simply not honest to Dippy is the ethical of the story.

Sabrina: Poor Dippy, I noticed Dippy about 15 years in the past once I went to that museum and it’s simply awe-inspiring and among the best issues that would greet you at a museum.

Garret: So Dippy additionally has a protracted historical past similar to the blue whale skeleton in New York.

Sabrina: Dippy has been part of the Pure Historical past Museum since 1905 due to King Edward the VII. He went to go to his good friend Andrew Carnegie, noticed sketches of a Diplodocus, liked it a lot that he had a duplicate made. Truly he needed the true factor however on the time they informed him that’s too onerous to search out so we’re going to make you this reproduction as finest as we will. It has been within the Central Corridor the place it greets museum guests since 1979. Truly one cool factor is that throughout the Blitz they took it aside and put all of the items into crates within the basement beneath the museum to guard it.

Garret: Yeah Dippy is about 83 toes lengthy in response to the Bumper Guide of Dinosaurs by Keiron Pim.

Sabrina: Who’s a British writer.

Garret: So he clearly is aware of his stuff, and it was additionally featured in just a few fascinating locations so Dippy was in “One among Our Dinosaurs is Lacking,” which is a Disney Movie from 1975 which talks concerning the heist of a dinosaur. And in that film they really cover within the mouth of a blue whale which is sort of fascinating.

Sabrina: It’s an animated film.

Garret: Yeah, thanks, in case anybody thought Disney was making reside motion now. Years later the skeleton mannequin that they utilized in“One among Our Dinosaurs is Lacking” was truly used within the first Star Wars film in one of many opening scenes the place C3PO is strolling by a dragon, and I’m not even going to attempt to pronounce what the dragon’s presupposed to sound like, and for those who look intently at it you’d see that that’s mainly only a sauropod and it seems to be Dippy.

Sabrina: One doubtlessly benefit of this entire factor with Dippy being changed in 2017 is that they could put Dippy on a nationwide tour of England. When you don’t get an opportunity to go to London’s Pure Historical past Museum earlier than 2017, possibly for those who go to England afterwards you’ll nonetheless be capable to see Dippy. In order that’s at this time’s rant and there’s truly a marketing campaign on twitter proper now #saveDippy so if you wish to be part of that, tweet one thing with a #saveDippy. Additionally the I is taking letters to the editors so we encourage you to electronic mail, in case you are like us and you prefer to Dippy to stay.

Garret: Yep so for apparent causes our dinosaur of the day is the Diplodocus. It lived within the Jurassic which is roughly a 148 to 150 million years in the past when dinosaurs had been round.

Sabrina: Diplodocus’s title means “Double Beam,” and it might have lived so long as 50 to 80 years. It’s additionally probably the most slender dinosaurs as in, truly the Bumper Guide of Dinosaurs factors out, far more slender than the Apatosaurus.

Garret: So the lighter weight that we talked about and the skinniness of the dinosaur as in comparison with different sauropods might have allowed it to go on two legs. It could have been capable of rear up on its hind legs like a horse or one thing however that’s additionally a bit controversial as a result of it’s clearly fairly tough to try this sort of factor.

Sabrina: The juveniles may need been capable of do it as a result of juvenile Apatosaurus may run on two legs, yeah, trigger they will run sooner away from predators.

Garret: Yeah it’s cute.

Sabrina: Diplodocus can also be probably the most on-display dinosaurs on the planet, on show in most museums.

Garret: Yeah a part of that’s as a result of the truth that there are literally a pretty big variety of Diplodocus fossils which have been discovered as in comparison with a few of the different sauropods. There are some sauropods that we are going to speak at afterward episodes the place they’ve solely discovered you already know one or two bones and had been attempting to guess the scale of the dinosaur. In reality Spinosaurus was that approach for a very long time we’d solely seen just a few bones so when Jurassic Park 3 got here out they had been largely simply guessing again then about what the scale of the dinosaur was and what it seemed like.

Sabrina: It wasn’t till late 2014 that the research got here out actually the place that they had extra proof to recommend that it spent a number of time in water and some different issues that had been solely guesses earlier than.

Garret: So I notice that we haven’t achieved a fast define of the organic classification system. Lots of people bear in mind the mnemonic from highschool concerning the kingdoms and all that so I used to be simply need to undergo actual fast. So you’ve got on the highest degree you’ve gotten the household tree of life and also you go into the domains you then go into the kingdoms a number of talks concerning the animal kingdom and the plant kingdom then you’ve gotten phylum’s you’ve gotten courses that are typically known as clads, orders then you’ve gotten households, and households particularly in I see so much in dinosaurs they are going to break down into sub-families or different sub-groups of the household, then you’ve gotten the genus, after which you’ve gotten the species. So in Diplodocus’s case it’s within the order of the sauropods and the tremendous household of Diplodocoidea and the household is Diplodocidae, so contained in the household there’s a Diplodocus the supersaurus and some different dinosaurs that are thought of a few of the longest issues to have ever lived, particularly on the land. A number of of them have been discovered over a 100 toes lengthy and truly the Diplodocus was thought of the longest dinosaur for fairly some time till longer dinosaurs had been ultimately found.

Sabrina: Most likely one of many coolest issues about Diplodocus is its whip-tail; scientists suppose that it might have been capable of break the sound barrier. Truly a paleontologist who got here up with that principle is Phil Currie, who we’ve got an interview with in a later podcast episode, the tail may have made a whip sound to both scare predators or may have been used for courtship functions.

Garret: Yeah it additionally jogs my memory of my favourite dinosaur which is a Ankylosaurus, would have been a membership on the tip of its tail so the thought of dinosaurs sort of lumbering and transferring slowly they really had fairly the fierce tails and in some circumstances there may need been extra motion and fast motion imagining a tail breaking the sound boundaries is fairly spectacular.

Sabrina: In 1990 in […] they really discovered Diplodocus fossilized pores and skin impression, which confirmed that the tail had a row of spines which will have run all the best way up the vertebrae to the neck. This was fabricated from keratin, which is similar factor you already know as our hair and finger nails, in order that’s why it’s fairly onerous to search out.

Garret: Yeah that may be thought of delicate tissue like we had been speaking about, effectively you possibly can’t truly inform what a dinosaur seemed like as a result of until you get an impression or one thing you by no means know what may have been on the market.

Sabrina: Diplodocus had completely different tooth from other forms of plant consuming dinosaurs. It had tooth that would strip leaves off as a substitute of biting leaves in clumps.

Garret: So that you think about the dinosaur trumping down in the midst of the department after which working its mouth out to the sting and stripping all of the leaves off directly.

Sabrina: So as a result of its tooth had been made for stripping, not essentially for chewing, it additionally needed to swallow stones to assist digest its meals.

Garret: It additionally had the flexibility to re-grow tooth shortly, sort of like a shark, you already know with all that biting on bark and sliding it down your mouth the department you’ll put on out your tooth fairly shortly so that you want a brand new tooth. And there’s some controversy about how versatile its neck was; some folks suppose that its neck was so versatile that it may get actually excessive elevation branches and low degree issues and all in between, different folks suppose its neck won’t have been that versatile so it might have to maneuver its entire physique backward and forward like a few of the different sauropods did. And I believe probably the most fascinating theories is that a part of the explanations its forelegs are a lot completely different than its hind legs is that it may have been consuming aquatic crops the place it will stick its head underwater, not less than graze the floor of the water, and chew up crops from that place. However in both case it was consuming crops almost certainly that different sauropods weren’t consuming so it didn’t have an excessive amount of competitors for meals.

Sabrina: We’re not certain but how Diplodocus laid eggs with out them breaking. They might have constructed delicate nests out of vegetation or they might have squatted down, however there’s additionally a principle that they’d have a tube of sentimental tissue like muscle tissue that would move the eggs down on its option to the bottom at a sluggish sufficient charge that it will hit the bottom softly, however there’s no delicate tissue stays that we discovered anyway to assist this principle. We additionally don’t know an excessive amount of about the way it took care of its younger–whether or not they sort of left them alone to outlive or sort of protected them till they grew large enough to not be meals supply for different carnivores on the time. Only a few different information about Diplodocus: its entrance limbs had been shorter than its hind limbs. Most Diplodocus museum shows are items from Andrew Carnegie; he donated a number of casts to completely different European monarchs. Paleontologists used to suppose that Diplodocus had a second mind however they found out later that it was simply an enlargement within the spinal twine and the hip space, however this enlargement was truly larger than the Diplodocus’s mind. And Diplodocus had five-toed toes similar to elephants, however it’s received a thumb-claw on one of many toes on every foot that it in all probability used for cover.

Garret: So our enjoyable reality for at this time is in accordance, to Schmitz and Motani of their paper, “Nocturnality in Dinosaurs Inferred from Scleral Ring and Orbit Morphology,” Diplodocus might have been what they cathemeral which mainly implies that it will nap and stand up and stroll round and eat at sort of random intervals all through it’s entire life. So in a 24-hour cycle you wouldn’t actually know if it will be asleep or up questioning round so it’s not likely, can’t actually be restricted by the nocturnal or diurnal as a result of it sort of received up and eat when it needed to. So that may be fairly fascinating to see. I can’t consider any fashionable animals to try this though I’m certain somebody can show me improper. In order that’s all we’ve got for this episode of IknowDino. As all the time yow will discover extra on our web site IknowDino.com and for those who like our podcast you possibly can ship us a tweet @iknowdino or go to our Fb web page which is I Know Dino or ship us an electronic mail at [email protected] Something I Know Dino associated, and if you wish to see the place yow will discover a dinosaur or different dinosaurs close to you, you too can go to iknowdino.com and lookup our map of museums and discover one close to you the place you possibly can see some actual dinosaur up shut and private.



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