Episode 73 is all about Barosaurus, a sauropod with a 30 ft lengthy neck, one of many longest necks of any dinosaur.
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On this episode, we focus on:
- The dinosaur of the day: Barosaurus
- Title means “heavy lizard”
- Lived within the Jurassic
- Kind species is Barosaurus lentus
- Lentus means “gradual” in Latin
- Fossils discovered within the Morrison Formation
- Bones first discovered by the postmistress of Pottsville, South Daktoa, Ms. E.R. Ellerman
- Charles Marsh and John Bell Hatcher (from Yale College) excavated the fossils in 1889. They solely discovered 6 tail vertebrae then. Marsh named it Barosaurus lentus
- The remainder of the kind specimen wasn’t excavated till 1898 (left within the floor). Marsh’s assistant George Rieber Wieland dug up the bones and located extra vertebrae, rib and limb bones
- Rachel Hatch, who owned the land Barosaurus was discovered, guarded the land till Marsh’s assistant might dig it up
- In 1912, Earl Douglass (fossil hunter) excavated 4 neck vertebrae, discovered close to a Diplodocus, however then William Jacob Holland stated they had been a part of a distinct species (ended up being Barosaurus)
- Barosaurus was totally described in 1919 by Richard Swann Lull. Based mostly on the outline, the bones Earl Douglass discovered had been thought-about to be a second partial Barosaurus skeleton (second specimen is within the rock wall at Dinosaur Nationwide Monument, wasn’t ready till the Eighties)
- Douglass discovered essentially the most full Barosaurus in 1923 (fossils from this skeleton had been unfold throughout the College of Utah, Nationwide Museum of Pure Historical past in D.C., and Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh. Then in 1929 Barnum Brown had all of the bones shipped to the American Museum of Pure Historical past in NY (nonetheless there right this moment); can see a forged of Barosaurus mounted within the museum in a controversial place, rearing as much as defend its younger from an Allosaurus
- David Evans rediscovered a Barosaurus skeleton in 2007 within the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. Earl Douglass had discovered the skeleton within the early 1900s and the museum had traded with the Carnegie Museum for it in 1962. However it was forgotten about till David Evans noticed a reference to it within the assortment
- At first it was labeled as Atlantosauridae, however in 1898 it was labeled as a diplodocid
- Marsh named two smaller metatarsals that Wieland had discovered as Barosaurus affinis, nevertheless it’s now thought-about a junior synonym of Barosaurus lentus
- One species that at one time was referred to as Barosaurus is Tornieria africana. What occurred was in 1907 Eberhard Fraas discovered two sauropods in German East Africa (Tanzania) and he referred to as them Gigantosaurus. However that genus title already belonged to a sauropod from England, so the Tanzania bones had been renamed Tornieria in 1911. The bones had been studied extra carefully and Werner Janensch reclassified them as Barosaurus. However some paleontologists although the bones had been too distinct, and in 2006 they had been redescribed and referred to as Tornieria
- Barosaurus is carefully associated to Diplodocus
- About the identical size as Diplodocus, however had an extended neck and shorter tail
- No cranium has been discovered, however in all probability just like Diplodocus and Apatosaurus, with lengthy skulls and peg-like enamel
- Whiplash tail, like Diplodocus
- Very massive, as much as 85 ft (26 m) lengthy and weighing about 20 tons
- Had forelimbs proportionately longer than different diplodocids, however shorter than most different kinds of sauropods
- No toes discovered, however in all probability had 5 toes on every foot, with a big claw on the forefeet
- Different dinosaurs within the Morrison Formation that lived similtaneously Barosaurus embody Camptosaurus, Dryosaurus, Stegosaurus, Othnielosaurus.
- Additionally predatory dinosaurs Saurophaganax, Torvosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Marshosaurus, Stokesosaurus, Ornitholestes, Allosaurus
- Different animals that lived on the time had been snails, frogs, ray-finned fish, salamanders, turtles, lizards, and a few pterosaurs, in addition to some early mammals.
- Crops included algae, fungi, moss, horsetails, cycads, ginkgoes, and conifers
- Barosaurus had a protracted neck which will have helped it eat meals with out transferring an excessive amount of, or helped get journey of extra physique warmth
- Had a 30 foot lengthy neck (one of many longest necks of any dinosaur)
- The way in which Barosaurus cervical vertebrae is structured means it might simply transfer its neck horizontally however not vertically. This implies it in all probability ate meals completely different from different diplodocids
- In all probability swept its neck at floor stage for meals (not a excessive browser)
- In 2009, Taylor, Wedel and Naish stated that sauropods in all probability held their necks excessive
- Seymour and Lillywhite stated that an 80-foot lengthy Barosaurus would require 700mmHg blood stress for blood to succeed in its head. This implies the left ventricle of its coronary heart must weigh 2 tons, and it appears unlikely such a big coronary heart would have existed. In order that they in all probability had a smaller coronary heart and couldn’t have held its head up that prime
- In 1978, Robert Bakker stated sauropods “might have used contractions of neck musculature as a relay pump to hold the cranial arterial provide” (however there’s no proof of this)
- Proof that some sauropods did maintain their heads up excessive (like Giraffatitan, held its head as much as 26 ft above its coronary heart); good for locating meals; nevertheless it’s unclear how they had been in a position to do that or how huge their hearts would have been (no comfortable tissue to check)
- Why deliver this up? Effectively the best way Barosaurus is mounted on the American Museum of Pure Historical past is controversial, as a result of it’s rearing up and its neck is excessive
- Rearing up is a controversial pose as a result of it could have been tough on its coronary heart. In all probability held its neck parallel to the bottom or it had blood accelerators or pseudo-hearts in its neck to assist pump blood (no proof of this)
- Barosaurus rearing up in all probability would have fallen and damaged its neck
- Solely two Barosaurus skeletons on show on the earth: AMNH and Royal Ontario Museum (can see authentic pores and skin imprint there)
- AMNH used to even have a mannequin of a juvenile Barosaurus (been within the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Orientation Heart in AMNH since 1996) was eliminated to make approach for the brand new titanosaur
- Peter Sohn, director of The Good Dinosaur, talked about remembering visiting the AMNH as a child and being amazed by the Barosaurus. He stated in an NPR article, “There was a barosaurus within the atrium. It was form of standing on two legs, and it blew me away, that factor. … It ignites the creativeness to suppose that one thing that giant might’ve roamed round New York.”
- Can now see that specimen on the Royal Ontario Museum (after being discovered once more); it’s the most important mounted dinosaur in Canada (90 ft, 27.5 m lengthy); the cranium is of a Diplodocus (no cranium discovered)
- The bones are mounted in a approach they are often eliminated for paleontologists to check and substitute once more with out disrupting the remainder of the skeleton. Extra of its bones have been present in storage, and could also be added to the specimen (might find yourself being essentially the most full Barosaurus identified). Nickname is “Gordo.”
- Can see Barosaurus in The Land Earlier than Time: The Nice Longneck Migration, as background characters who be part of Littlefoot and his household’s herd
Science Blogs has a put up exhibiting outdated depictions of Barosaurus that had been very unsuitable. Drawings present Barosaurus elevating its head actually excessive, having a versatile tongue and veiny neck, galloping, and with a brief tail - The household Diplodocidae means “double beams”
- Contains Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, Supersaurus, Barosaurus, Brontosaurus
- In comparison with titanosaurs and brachiosaurs, dipodocids had been slender and lengthy, with quick legs, and their again legs had been longer than their entrance legs
- Many might have had spines on its again
- Very lengthy necks, might not have been capable of raise heads as excessive up as different sauropods
- Had small heads and peg-like enamel
- In all probability didn’t chew, however swallowed gastroliths to digest their meals
- Had lengthy, whip-like tails that they may snap
- Diplodocidae was initially referred to as Amphicoelidae (named by Edward Cope in 1878), however grew to become a forgotten title; Charles Marsh additionally named the household Atlantosauridae again in 1877, however that additionally grew to become a forgotten title (nomen oblitum)
- Barosaurus is within the subfamily Diplodocinae, which additionally consists of Diplodocus, Tornieria and Dinheirosaurus
- This subfamily lived within the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous
- Different subfamily is Apatosaurines
- Diplodocines had been extra slender and had longer necks and tails
- Enjoyable reality: Classification of fossilized eggs known as vererovata. And they’re labeled into oofamilies, oogenera, and oospecies which might typically be referred to as ootaxa. All of these phrases begin with “oo” as a result of it’s the traditional greek prefix for “egg” form of like ovum.