Diplodocid

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Diplodocids
Temporal range: Middle Jurassic-Early Cretaceous, 170–136.4 Ma
Diplodocus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Sauropodomorpha
Clade: Sauropoda
Superfamily: Diplodocoidea
Clade: Flagellicaudata
Family: Diplodocidae
Marsh, 1884
Type species
Diplodocus longus
Marsh, 1878
Subgroups
Synonyms
  • Atlantosauridae?
    Marsh, 1877
  • Amphicoeliidae?
    Cope, 1878
  • Apatosauridae
    Huene, 1927

Diplodocids, or members of the family Diplodocidae ("double beams"), are a group of sauropod dinosaurs.[2][3][1] The family includes some of the longest creatures ever to walk the earth, including Diplodocus and Supersaurus, which may have reached lengths of up to 34 metres (112 ft).[4]

With their peg-like teeth they could strip leaves from branches, and leave the grinding to gastroliths. They bacteria in their vast stomachs would break down the cellulose in the leaves, and the product would be absorbed further on in the alimentary canal.

The diplodocids have two sub-families:

  1. Diplodocinae: Diplodocus and other long, slender forms.
  2. Apatosaurinae: Apatosaurus and other stockier types.

Their cousins the brachiosaurs are put into a sister family. The much later titanosaurs were the last group of sauropods on Earth.

References[change | change source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Taylor, M.P. (2010). "Sauropod dinosaur research: a historical review." Pp. 361-386 in Moody, R.T.J., Buffetaut, E., Naish, D. and Martill, D.E. (eds.), Dinosaurs and Other Extinct Saurians: A Historical Perspective. London: The Geological Society, Special Publication No. 34.
  2. Holtz, Thomas R. Jr. 2012. Dinosaurs: the most complete, up-to-date encyclopedia for dinosaur lovers of all ages. Winter 2011 Appendix
  3. Gillette D.D. 1996, Stratigraphic position of the sauropod Dystrophaeus viaemalae Cope and its evolutionary implications. In: Morales, Michael (ed) The continental Jurassic. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin 60: 59-68.
  4. Lovelace, David M.; Hartman, Scott A.; and Wahl, William R. (2007). "Morphology of a specimen of Supersaurus (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Morrison Formation of Wyoming, and a re-evaluation of diplodocid phylogeny". Arquivos do Museu Nacional. 65 (4): 527–544.