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An unnamed diplodocid specimen from the Morrison Formation nicknamed "Dolly" shows evidence of a throat infection that created cauliflowered bone in the vertebral air sacs. The infection is theorized to have been similar to aspergillosis , though research is ongoing.
Some debate has arisen regarding the age of the individuals found at the site. Originally the diplodocid specimens from the MDQ were thought to consist solely of juveniles and sub-adults based on the small size of the fossils and the low levels of ossification encountered in these elements.
Due to the vast amount of scale diversity seen within such a small area, as well as the scales being smaller in comparison to other diplodocid scale fossils, and the presence of small and potentially “juvenile” material at the Mother’s Day Quarry, it is hypothesized that the skin originated from a small or even “juvenile” Diplodocus.
Diplodocoidea is a superfamily of sauropod dinosaurs, which included some of the longest animals of all time, including slender giants like Supersaurus, Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, and Amphicoelias.
Amphicoelias (a diplodocid of uncertain placement), Kaatedocus (a possible diplodocine), Maraapunisaurus (a possible rebbachisaurid) and the basal diplodocoid Haplocanthosaurus are also known. Macronarian sauropods in the Morrison Formation include Brachiosaurus but are dominated by the very common Camarasaurus. [16] [17]
Diplodocid and brachiosaurid members of the group composed the greater portion of neosauropods during the Jurassic, but they began to be replaced by titanosaurs in most regions through the Cretaceous period. [3] By the late Cretaceous, titanosaurs were the dominant group of neosauropods, especially on the southern continents.
Named “Gnatalie” (pronounced Natalie) for the gnats that swarmed during the excavation, the long-necked, long-tailed herbivorous dinosaur's fossils got its unique coloration, a dark mottled ...
[82] [83] Due to this, it has been theorized that sauropods living within the arid environment of the Morrison Formation participated in migrations between feeding sites. [84] James Farlow in a 1987 paper calculated that a Brontosaurus -sized dinosaur about 35 t (34 long tons; 39 short tons) would have possessed 5.7 t (5.6 long tons; 6.3 short ...