A dino's long, long reach.Scientists have found the remains of a dinosaur dinosaur (dī`nəsôr) [Gr., = terrible lizard], extinct land reptile of the Mesozoic era. The dinosaurs, which were egg-laying animals, ranged in length from 2 1-2 ft (91 cm) to about 127 ft (39 m). whose neck could have been twice as long as its body. Such extreme proportions would put a giraffe giraffe, African ruminant mammal, Giraffa camelopardalis, living in open savanna S of the Sahara. The tallest of animals, giraffes browse in treetops at heights inaccessible to other leaf-eaters. A male may be 18 ft (5.5 m) from hoof to crown. to shame. The dinosaur, called Erketu ellisoni, was a sauropod sauropod Any species of four-legged, herbivorous, saurischian dinosaur in the suborder Sauropoda. The sauropods include the largest of all dinosaurs and the largest land animals that ever lived. . These dinosaurs <onlyinclude> This list of dinosaurs is a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the superorder Dinosauria, excluding class Aves (birds, both living and those known only from fossils) and purely vernacular terms. are known for their large bodies and long necks. Scientists from the American Museum of Natural History American Museum of Natural History, incorporated in New York City in 1869 to promote the study of natural science and related subjects. Buildings on its present site were opened in 1877. found the specimen SPECIMEN. A sample; a part of something by which the other may be known. 2. The act of congress of July 4, 1836, section 6, requires the inventor or discoverer of an invention or discovery to accompany his petition and specification for a patent with specimens in Mongolia. By analyzing the rock surrounding the fossils, they determined that the animal lived between 100 million and 120 million years ago. There wasn't much of the dinosaur left to find. Among other body parts, the remains included just six neck bones. The biggest was 49 centimeters (19 inches) long, and scientists assume that E. ellisoni had 15 neck bones, just as its closest relatives did. Based on these remains, the creature's neck could have been as long as 7.8 meters (26 feet), scientists say. The sizes of some of the other excavated bones suggest that the creature's body was about 13 feet long--only half as long as its neck. No other sauropods had such an extreme neck-to-body ratio. So, E. ellisoni sets the record for the longest neck compared to body length. Although other sauropods had longer necks, they also had much larger bodies. And you think it's hard to hold your head up sometimes!--E. Sohn http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20060503/Note3.asp From Science News for Kids May 3, 2006. Copyright [C] 2006 Science Service. All rights reserved. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion