113-471: Dippy is a composite Diplodocus skeleton in Pittsburgh 's Carnegie Museum of Natural History , and the holotype of the species Diplodocus carnegii . It is considered the most famous single dinosaur skeleton in the world, due to the numerous plaster casts donated by Andrew Carnegie to several major museums around the world at the beginning of the 20th century. The casting and distribution of
226-404: A coachwhip ) or, as more recently suggested, tactile function. The tail may have served as a counterbalance for the neck. The middle part of the tail had "double beams" (oddly shaped chevron bones on the underside, which gave Diplodocus its name). They may have provided support for the vertebrae, or perhaps prevented the blood vessels from being crushed if the animal's heavy tail pressed against
339-401: A 29 m (95 ft) long D. hallorum was estimated to weigh 23 metric tons (25 short tons) in body mass. A study in 2024 later found the mass of a 33 m (108 ft) D. hallorum to be only 21 metric tons (23 short tons), though the study suggested this only represents the average adult size and not the above average or maximum body size. The nearly complete D. carnegii skeleton at
452-861: A basis for propaganda in favour of social and educational reform. In Lankester's time the Natural History Museum had its own building in South Kensington , but in financial and administrative matters it was subordinate to the British Museum . Moreover, the Superintendent (= Director) of the NHM was the subordinate of the Principal Librarian of the BM, a fact which was bound to cause trouble since that august person
565-483: A canyon west of San Ysidro , New Mexico . The find was reported to the New Mexican Museum of Natural History , who dispatched an expedition led by David D. Gillette in 1985, that collected the specimen after several visits from 1985 to 1990. The specimen was preserved in semi-articulation, including 230 gastroliths , with several vertebrae, partial pelvis, and right femur and was prepared and deposited at
678-427: A far better education than most English biologists of the previous generation, such as Huxley , Wallace and Bates . Even so, it could be argued that the influence of his father Edwin and his friends were just as important. Huxley was a close friend of the family, and whilst still a child Ray met Hooker , Henfrey , Clifford , Gosse , Owen , Forbes , Carpenter , Lyell , Murchison , Henslow and Darwin . He
791-423: A funiculus cord that runs from the external occipital crest of the skull to elongate vertebral neural spines or “withers” in the shoulder region plus sheet-like extensions called laminae run from the cord to the neural spines on some or all of the cervical vertebrae. However, most sauropods do not have withers in the shoulders, so if they possessed a similar ligament, it would differ substantially, perhaps anchoring in
904-524: A horizontal posture, with forelimbs shorter than hind limbs. Diplodocids flourished in the Late Jurassic of North America and possibly Africa. A subfamily, the Diplodocinae , was erected to include Diplodocus and its closest relatives, including Barosaurus . More distantly related is the contemporaneous Apatosaurus , which is still considered a diplodocid, although not a diplodocine, as it
1017-430: A large donation by Michael Hintze . Dippy replaced a mounted African elephant , nicknamed George, which had been on display as the central exhibit in the main hall since 1907, with various other animal specimens. The elephant had itself replaced the skeleton of a sperm whale which was the first significant exhibit in the hall and had been on display since at least 1895: earlier, the hall had been left largely empty. Dippy
1130-493: A largely horizontal posture. The skeletal structure of these long-necked, long-tailed animals supported by four sturdy legs have been compared with cantilever bridges . In fact, D. carnegii is currently one of the longest dinosaurs known from a complete skeleton, with a total length of 24–26 meters (79–85 ft). Modern mass estimates for D. carnegii have tended to be in the 12–14.8-metric-ton (13.2–16.3-short-ton) range. Diplodocus hallorum , known from partial remains,
1243-526: A limb on the Diplodocus . The skin fossil itself is small in size, reaching less than 70 cm in length. 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
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#17327729142211356-535: A nearly complete skull of a juvenile Diplodocus , was found at the quarry and is one of few known and highlighted ontogenetic dietary changes in the genus. Diplodocus is both the type genus of, and gives its name to, the Diplodocidae, the family in which it belongs. Members of this family, while still massive, have a markedly more slender build than other sauropods, such as the titanosaurs and brachiosaurs . All are characterized by long necks and tails and
1469-537: A return trip financed by Carnegie, Reed excavated Sheep Creek Quarry D in which he found the first part of Dippy's skeleton, a toe bone, on July 4, 1899. Its discovery on Independence Day , and its use in American diplomacy via Carnegie's international donations of replicas, led to its being nicknamed the "star-spangled dinosaur". Dippy became the centrepiece of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, such that
1582-479: A semi articulated skull of a diplodocine with mandibles (CM 11161) in the Monument. Another skull (CM 3452) was found by Carnegie crews in 1915, bearing 6 articulated cervical vertebrae and mandibles, and another skull with mandibles (CM 1155) was found in 1923. All of the skulls found at Dinosaur National Monument were shipped back to Pittsburgh and described by William Jacob Holland in detail in 1924, who referred
1695-402: A single action. Also, the palinal (backwards) motion of the lower jaws could have contributed two significant roles to feeding behavior: (1) an increased gape, and (2) allowed fine adjustments of the relative positions of the tooth rows, creating a smooth stripping action. Young et al. (2012) used biomechanical modeling to examine the performance of the diplodocine skull. It was concluded that
1808-462: A skull molded based on USNM 2673, a skull assigned to Galeamopus pabsti . The Carnegie Museum mount became very popular, being nicknamed " Dippy " by the populace, eventually being cast and sent to museums in London , Berlin , Paris , Vienna , Bologna , St. Petersburg , Buenos Aires , Madrid , and Mexico City from 1905 to 1928. The London cast specifically became very popular; its casting
1921-486: A small or even “juvenile” Diplodocus . The first record of Diplodocus comes from Marshall P. Felch’s quarry at Garden Park near Cañon City , Colorado , when several fossils were collected by Benjamin Mudge and Samuel Wendell Williston in 1877. The first specimen (YPM VP 1920) was very incomplete, consisting only of two complete caudal vertebrae, a chevron, and several other fragmentary caudal vertebrae. The specimen
2034-842: A tour of British museums in February 2018, mounted on a new, more mobile armature. Dippy is and has been on display at locations around the United Kingdom: Dorset County Museum (February 10 – May 7, 2018), Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (26 May – September 9, 2018), Ulster Museum (September 17, 2018 – January 6, 2019), Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum , the Great North Museum , the National Museum of Wales , Number One Riverside in Rochdale, and Norwich Cathedral . As director of
2147-485: A very stable tripodal posture. In a tripodal posture Diplodocus could potentially increase its feeding height up to about 11 m (36 ft). Ray Lankester Sir Edwin Ray Lankester KCB FRS (15 May 1847 – 13 August 1929) was a British zoologist . An invertebrate zoologist and evolutionary biologist , he held chairs at University College London and Oxford University . He
2260-419: A wealth of skeletal remains, Diplodocus is one of the best-studied dinosaurs. Many aspects of its lifestyle have been subjects of various theories over the years. Comparisons between the scleral rings of diplodocines and modern birds and reptiles suggest that they may have been cathemeral , active throughout the day at short intervals. Marsh and then Hatcher assumed that the animal was aquatic, because of
2373-538: Is a Neo-Latin term derived from Greek διπλός ( diplos ) "double" and δοκός ( dokos ) "beam", in reference to the double-beamed chevron bones located in the underside of the tail, which were then considered unique. The genus of dinosaurs lived in what is now mid-western North America, at the end of the Jurassic period . It is one of the more common dinosaur fossils found in the middle to upper Morrison Formation , between about 154 and 152 million years ago, during
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#17327729142212486-470: Is a member of the sister subfamily Apatosaurinae . The Portuguese Dinheirosaurus and the African Tornieria have also been identified as close relatives of Diplodocus by some authors. Diplodocoidea comprises the diplodocids, as well as the dicraeosaurids , rebbachisaurids , Suuwassea , Amphicoelias possibly Haplocanthosaurus , and/or the nemegtosaurids . The clade
2599-530: Is actually dubious, which is not an ideal situation for the type species of a well-known genus like Diplodocus . A petition to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature was being considered which proposed making D. carnegii the new type species. This proposal was rejected by the ICZN and D. longus has been maintained as the type species, because Hatcher did not demonstrate why
2712-406: Is debated but it should have been able to browse from low levels to about 4 m (13 ft) when on all fours. However, studies have shown that the center of mass of Diplodocus was very close to the hip socket ; this means that Diplodocus could rear up into a bipedal posture with relatively little effort. It also had the advantage of using its large tail as a 'prop' which would allow for
2825-664: Is incorrect, as has been alleged, that the charge concerned homosexual offences.) He died in London on 13 August 1929. A finely decorated memorial plaque to him can be seen at the Golders Green Crematorium , Hoop Lane, London. Lankester became a Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford , in 1873. He co-edited the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science which his father had founded. From 1869 until his death he edited this journal (jointly with his father, 1869–1871). He worked as one of Huxley's team at
2938-550: Is now Dinosaur National Monument on the border region between Colorado and Utah, with the sandstone dating to the Kimmeridgian of the Morrison Formation . From 1909 to 1922, with the Carnegie Museum excavating the quarry, eventually unearthing over 120 dinosaur individuals and 1,600+ bones, many of the associated skeletons being very complete and are on display in several American museums. In 1912, Douglass found
3051-544: Is the first known from a Diplodocus . Another Diplodocus skeleton was collected at the Carnegie Quarry in Dinosaur National Monument, Utah, by the National Museum of Natural History in 1923. The skeleton (USNM V 10865) is one of the most complete known from Diplodocus , consisting of a semi-articulated partial postcranial skeleton, including a well preserved dorsal column. The skeleton
3164-415: Is the most likely feeding behavior of Diplodocus , as it explains the unusual wear patterns of the teeth (coming from tooth–food contact). In unilateral branch stripping, one tooth row would have been used to strip foliage from the stem, while the other would act as a guide and stabilizer. With the elongated preorbital (in front of the eyes) region of the skull, longer portions of stems could be stripped in
3277-668: Is the sister group to Macronaria ( camarasaurids , brachiosaurids and titanosaurians). A cladogram of the Diplodocidae after Tschopp, Mateus, and Benson (2015) below: Amphicoelias altus Unnamed species Apatosaurus ajax Apatosaurus louisae Brontosaurus excelsus Brontosaurus yahnahpin Brontosaurus parvus Unnamed species Tornieria africana Supersaurus lourinhanensis Supersaurus vivianae Leinkupal laticauda Galeamopus hayi Diplodocus carnegii Diplodocus hallorum Kaatedocus siberi Barosaurus lentus Due to
3390-424: Is to study the ligaments and their attachments to bones in extant animals to see if they resemble any bony structures in sauropods or other dinosaur species like Parasaurolophus . If diplodocus relied on a mammal-like nuchal ligament, it would have been for passively sustaining the weight of its head and neck. This ligament is found in many hoofed mammals, such as bison and horses. In mammals, it typically consists of
3503-513: The Bighorn Basin Paleontological Institute in 2017. The quarry was very productive, having mostly isolated Diplodocus bones from juveniles to adults in pristine preservation. The quarry notably had a great disparity between the amount of juveniles and adults in the quarry, as well as the frequent preservation of skin impressions, pathologies , and some articulated specimens from Diplodocus. One specimen,
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3616-492: The British Museum , saw a sketch of the bones at Carnegie's Scottish home, Skibo Castle , in 1902, and Carnegie agreed to donate a cast to the Natural History Museum as a gift. Carnegie paid £2,000 for the casting in plaster of paris , copying the original fossil bones held by the Carnegie Museum (not mounted until 1907, as a new museum building was still being constructed to house it). The 292 cast pieces of
3729-485: The Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , on which size estimates of D. hallorum are mainly based, also was found to have had its 13th tail vertebra come from another dinosaur, throwing off size estimates for D. hallorum even further. While dinosaurs such as Supersaurus were probably longer, fossil remains of these animals are only fragmentary and D. hallorum still remains among
3842-411: The Morrison Formation of Sheep Creek , Wyoming , with funding from Scottish-American steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie , they discovered a massive and well preserved skeleton of Diplodocus. The skeleton was collected that year by Jacob L. Wortman and several other crewmen under his direction along with several specimens of Stegosaurus , Brontosaurus parvus , and Camarasaurus preserved alongside
3955-454: The Mother's Day Quarry , exhibits several different types of scale shapes including rectangular, polygonal, pebble, ovoid, dome, and globular. These scales range in size and shape depending upon their location on the integument, the smallest of which reach about 1mm while the largest 10 mm. Some of these scales show orientations that may indicate where they belonged on the body. For instance,
4068-486: The Stazione Zoologica , Naples ). Connecting Dohrn's work with Darwinism , Lankester held that degeneration was one of three general avenues that evolution might take (the others being balance and elaboration). Degeneration was a suppression of form, "Any new set of conditions occurring to an animal which render its food and safety very easily attained, seem to lead to as a rule to Degeneration". Degeneration
4181-592: The palaeographer , was also the Secretary to the Trustees, and hence in a strong position to get his own way. There is good evidence that Thompson, an efficient and authoritarian figure, intended to take control of the whole Museum, including the Natural History departments. In the absence of Huxley, who had led most of the battles for over thirty years, it was left to the younger generation to struggle for
4294-459: The size of these animals. Diplodocus had small, 'peg'-like teeth that pointed forward and were only present in the anterior sections of the jaws. Its braincase was small, and the neck was composed of at least 15 vertebrae . The discovery of partial diplodocid skin impressions in 1990 showed that some species had narrow, pointed, keratinous spines, much like those on an iguana . The spines could be up to 18 centimeters (7.1 in) long, on
4407-695: The "whiplash" portion of their tails, and possibly along the back and neck as well, similarly to hadrosaurids . The spines have been incorporated into many recent reconstructions of Diplodocus , notably Walking with Dinosaurs . The original description of the spines noted that the specimens in the Howe Quarry near Shell, Wyoming were associated with skeletal remains of an undescribed diplodocid "resembling Diplodocus and Barosaurus ." Specimens from this quarry have since been referred to Kaatedocus siberi and Barosaurus sp., rather than Diplodocus . Fossilized skin of Diplodocus sp., discovered at
4520-413: The 1970s, general consensus has the sauropods as firmly terrestrial animals, browsing on trees, ferns, and bushes. Scientists have debated as to how sauropods were able to breathe with their large body sizes and long necks, which would have increased the amount of dead space . They likely had an avian respiratory system , which is more efficient than a mammalian and reptilian system. Reconstructions of
4633-463: The 25 m (82 ft) long skeleton of a young blue whale , dubbed "Hope". The work involved in removing Dippy and replacing it with the whale skeleton was documented in a BBC Television special, Horizon : Dippy and the Whale , narrated by David Attenborough , which was first broadcast on BBC Two on July 13, 2017, the day before the whale skeleton was unveiled for public display. Dippy started
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4746-728: The Carnegie Museum that had been collected at Dinosaur National Monument. The specimen (DMNH 1494) was nearly as complete as the Smithsonian specimen. It consists of the vertebral column complete from cervical 8 to caudal 20, right scapula-coracoid, complete pelvis, and both hind limbs without feet. It was mounted in the museum during the late 1930s and remounted in the early 1990s. Although not described in detail, Tschopp and colleagues determined that this skeleton also belonged to D. hallorum . Few Diplodocus finds came for many years until 1979, when three hikers came across several vertebrae stuck in elevated stone next to several petroglyphs in
4859-543: The Carnegie Museums, William Holland supervised the donations of the casts. His trip to Argentina in 1912 was recorded by Holland in his 1913 travel book To the River Plate and Back . Holland noted a poem which had become popular among college students: Crowned heads of Europe All make a royal fuss Over Uncle Andy And his old diplodocus. Known casts include: In 1999 a public sculpture of Dippy
4972-621: The Natural History Museum from 1898 to 1907. He was a founder in 1884 of the Marine Biological Association and served as its second President between 1890 and 1929. Influential as teacher and writer on biological theories, comparative anatomy, and evolution, Lankester studied the protozoa , mollusca , and arthropoda . Lankester was elected an International Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1902, and an International Member of both
5085-545: The New Mexican Museum of Natural History under NMMNH P-3690. The specimen was not described until 1991 in the Journal of Paleontology , where Gillette named it Seismosaurus halli (Jim and Ruth Hall's seismic lizard) , though in 1994, Gillette published an amendment changing the name to S. hallorum. In 2004 and later 2006, Seismosaurus was synonymized with Diplodocus and even suggested to be synonymous with
5198-580: The Pittsburgh museum, which needed expansion in order to house Dippy. Today, the skeleton is part of the Dinosaurs in Their Time exhibition. Industrialist Andrew Carnegie financed the acquisition of the skeleton in 1898, as well as the donation of the casts at the beginning of the 20th century. His great-grandson, William Thomson, was quoted in 2019 explaining the donations: "By gifting copies to
5311-602: The Royal Society in 1910–1912. Through correspondence he became the scientific mentor of the Suffolk prehistorian James Reid Moir (1879–1944). He was a friend of Karl Marx in the latter's later years and was among the few persons present at his funeral. Lankester was active in attempting to expose the frauds of Spiritualist mediums during the 1920s. He was an important writer of popular science, his weekly newspaper columns over many years being assembled and reprinted in
5424-593: The Talking Rock facies of the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation , in Albany County, Wyoming . In 1900, John Bell Hatcher was hired by William Jacob Holland as curator of paleontology and osteology for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History , succeeding Jacob Lawson Wortman . Hatcher supervised the field expeditions, excavations, investigation and display of Dippy, and named
5537-698: The United States National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society in 1903. He was knighted in 1907, awarded the Copley Medal of the Royal Society in 1913, and the Linnean Society of London 's Darwin-Wallace Medal in 1908. At University College London (the 'Godless Institute of Gower Street') Lankester taught Raphael Weldon (1860–1906), who went on to succeed him in
5650-469: The affairs of the museum and obstructing Lankester's attempt to improve the museum. Lankester resigned in 1907, at the direction of Thompson, who had discovered a clause in the regulations which allowed him to call for the resignation of officials at the age of 60. Lazarus Fletcher was appointed in his stead. There was a vast clamour in the press, and from foreign zoologists protesting at the treatment of Lankester. That Lankester had some friends in high places
5763-405: The apex forms a blunt, triangular point. The most prominent wear facet is on the apex, though unlike all other wear patterns observed within sauropods, diplodocine wear patterns are on the labial (cheek) side of both the upper and lower teeth. This implies that the feeding mechanism of Diplodocus and other diplodocids was radically different from that of other sauropods. Unilateral branch stripping
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#17327729142215876-431: The base of their necks at the maximum possible vertical extension when in a normal, alert posture, and argued that the same would hold true for sauropods barring any unknown, unique characteristics that set the soft tissue anatomy of their necks apart from other animals. The study found faults with Stevens' assumptions regarding the potential range of motion in sauropod necks, and based on comparing skeletons to living animals
5989-532: The cast was altered several times to reflect changes in scientific opinion on the animal's stance. The head and neck were originally posed in a downwards position, and were later moved to a more horizontal position in the 1960s. Dippy was removed from the Reptile Gallery in 1979 and repositioned as the centrepiece of the main central hall of the museum, later renamed the Hintze Hall in recognition of
6102-699: The chair at UCL. Another interesting student was Alfred Gibbs Bourne , who went on to hold senior positions in biology and education in the Indian Empire . When Lankester left to take up the Linacre chair at Oxford in 1891, the Grant Museum at UCL continued to grow under Weldon who added a number of extremely rare specimens. Weldon is perhaps best known for founding the science of biometry with Francis Galton (1822–1911) and Karl Pearson (1857–1936). He followed Lankester to Oxford in 1899. After Huxley
6215-467: The depictions and finds by Marsh and Cope to assemble their own dinosaur fossil collections. The competition to mount the first sauropod skeleton specifically was the most intense, with the American Museum of Natural History , Carnegie Museum of Natural History , and Field Museum of Natural History all sending expeditions to the west to find the most complete sauropod specimen, bring it back to
6328-769: The dubious D. longus and later Tschopp et al. 's phylogenetic analysis in 2015 supported the idea that many specimens referred to D. longus actually belonged to D. hallorum . In 1994, the Museum of the Rockies discovered a very productive fossil site at Mother's Day Quarry in Carbon County, Montana from the Salt Wash member of the Morrison Formation that was later excavated by the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History and Science in 1996, and after that
6441-592: The example of his old mentor, Huxley. He published over 200 papers during his career. For an overview of his scientific work, see the obituary notice by Edwin S. Goodrich . Lankester's books Developmental history of the Mollusca (1875) and Degeneration: a chapter in Darwinism (1880) established him as a leader in the study of invertebrate life histories. In Degeneration he adapted some ideas of Ernst Haeckel and Anton Dohrn (the founder and first director of
6554-606: The finger and hand bones arranged into a vertical column, horseshoe-shaped in cross section. Diplodocus lacked claws on all but one digit of the front limb, and this claw was unusually large relative to other sauropods, flattened from side to side, and detached from the bones of the hand. The function of this unusually specialized claw is unknown. No skull has ever been found that can be confidently said to belong to Diplodocus , though skulls of other diplodocids closely related to Diplodocus (such as Galeamopus ) are well known. The skulls of diplodocids were very small compared with
6667-406: The form of the newly appointed George Rolleston . Lankester achieved first-class honours in 1868. His education was rounded off by study visits to Vienna , Leipzig and Jena , and he did some work at the Stazione Zoologica at Naples . He took the examination to become a Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford , and studied under Thomas H. Huxley before taking his MA . Lankester therefore had
6780-407: The ground. These "double beams" are also seen in some related dinosaurs. Chevron bones of this particular form were initially believed to be unique to Diplodocus ; since then they have been discovered in other members of the diplodocid family as well as in non-diplodocid sauropods, such as Mamenchisaurus . Like other sauropods, the manus (front "feet") of Diplodocus were highly modified, with
6893-454: The heads of state of seven other countries as well as the UK, Carnegie hoped to demonstrate through mutual interest in scientific discoveries that nations have more in common than what separates them. He used his gifts in an attempt to open inter state dialogue on preserving world peace – a form of Dinosaur diplomacy." The London cast of Dippy came about when King Edward VII , then a keen trustee of
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#17327729142217006-482: The hip region. Another hypothesized neck-supporting ligament is an avian-like elastic ligament, such as that seen in Struthio camelus . This ligament acts similarly to the mammal-like nuchal ligament but comprises short segments of ligament that connect the bases of the neural spines, and therefore does not need a robust attachment zone like those seen in mammals. A 2009 study found that all tetrapods appear to hold
7119-512: The home institution, and mount it in their fossil halls. The American Museum of Natural History was the first to launch an expedition, finding a semi-articulated partial postcranial skeleton containing many vertebrae of Diplodocus in at Como Bluff in 1897. The skeleton (AMNH FR 223) was collected by Barnum Brown and Henry Osborn , who shipped the specimen to the AMNH and it was briefly described in 1899 by Osborn, who referred it to D. longus . It
7232-493: The independence of science, Mitchell , Poulton , and Weldon were his main supporters, and together they lobbied the Trustees, the Government and in the press to get their point over. Finally Lankester was appointed instead of Lazarus Fletcher (a relative nonentity). Lankester was appointed in 1898, and the outcome was inevitable. Eight years of conflict with Maunde Thompson followed, with Thompson constantly interfering in
7345-462: The late Kimmeridgian Age , although it may have made it into the Tithonian. The Morrison Formation records an environment and time dominated by gigantic sauropod dinosaurs, such as Apatosaurus , Barosaurus , Brachiosaurus , Brontosaurus , and Camarasaurus . Its great size may have been a deterrent to the predators Allosaurus and Ceratosaurus : their remains have been found in
7458-520: The longest known dinosaur (excluding those known from exceedingly poor remains, such as Amphicoelias or Maraapunisaurus ). The estimated length was later revised downward to 30.5–35 m (100–115 ft) and later on to 29–33.5 m (95–110 ft) based on findings that show that Gillette had originally misplaced vertebrae 12–19 as vertebrae 20–27. Weight estimates based on the revised length are as high as 38 metric tons (42 short tons) although more recently, and according to Gregory S. Paul,
7571-427: The longest known dinosaurs. Diplodocus had an extremely long tail, composed of about 80 caudal vertebrae , which are almost double the number some of the earlier sauropods had in their tails (such as Shunosaurus with 43), and far more than contemporaneous macronarians had (such as Camarasaurus with 53). Some speculation exists as to whether it may have had a defensive or noisemaking (by cracking it like
7684-563: The longest necks would have required a 1.6-ton heart – a tenth of the animal's body weight. The study proposed that animals like these would have had rudimentary auxiliary "hearts" in their necks, whose only purpose was to pump blood up to the next "heart". Some argue that the near-horizontal posture of the head and neck would have eliminated the problem of supplying blood to the brain, as it would not be elevated. Diplodocines have highly unusual teeth compared to other sauropods. The crowns are long and slender, and elliptical in cross-section, while
7797-599: The middle years of the 20th century. As a zoologist Lankester was a comparative anatomist of the Huxley school, working mostly on invertebrates . He was the first to show the relationship of the horseshoe crab or Limulus to the Arachnida . His Limulus specimens can still be seen in the Grant Museum of Zoology at UCL today. He was also a voluminous writer on biology for the general readership; in this he followed
7910-538: The model for Professor Challenger in Arthur Conan Doyle 's The Lost World , but Doyle himself said that Challenger was based on a professor of physiology at the University of Edinburgh named William Rutherford . Lankester never married. In 1895, he was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest while in the company of a group of female prostitutes on the street, but was acquitted. (It
8023-438: The morphology of sauropod necks have concluded that the neutral posture of Diplodocus neck was close to horizontal, rather than vertical, and scientists such as Kent Stevens have used this to argue that sauropods including Diplodocus did not raise their heads much above shoulder level. A nuchal ligament may have held the neck in this position. One approach to understanding the possible ligament structure in ancient sauropods
8136-469: The most important influence on his thought was August Weismann , the German zoologist who rejected Lamarckism , and wholeheartedly advocated natural selection as the key force in evolution at a time when other biologists had doubts. Weismann's separation of germplasm (genetic material) from soma ( somatic cells ) was an idea which took many years before its significance was generally appreciated. Lankester
8249-401: The museum became known as "the house that Dippy built". In 2016, a petition to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature was being considered which proposed to make Diplodocus carnegii the new type species of Diplodocus . The proposal was rejected in 2018, and D. longus has been maintained as the type species. The skeleton was found in the upper 10 metres (33 ft) of
8362-459: The naturalist John Ray : his father had just edited the memorials of John Ray for the Ray Society . In 1855 Ray went to boarding school at Leatherhead , and in 1858 to St Paul's School . His university education was at Downing College, Cambridge , and Christ Church, Oxford ; he transferred from Downing, after five terms, at his parents' behest because Christ Church had better teaching in
8475-449: The neck and thorax of Diplodocus show great pneumaticity , which could have played a role in respiration as it does in birds. The depiction of Diplodocus posture has changed considerably over the years. For instance, a classic 1910 reconstruction by Oliver P. Hay depicts two Diplodocus with splayed lizard-like limbs on the banks of a river. Hay argued that Diplodocus had a sprawling, lizard-like gait with widely splayed legs, and
8588-410: The new buildings in South Kensington , and after the death of Francis Balfour became Huxley's intended successor. Lankester was appointed Jodrell Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy and curator of what is now the Grant Museum of Zoology at University College London from 1874 to 1890, Linacre Professor of Comparative Anatomy at Merton College, Oxford , from 1891 to 1898, and director of
8701-748: The original fossil. Sited along Forbes Avenue near Schenley Plaza and the lawn of the University of Pittsburgh 's Cathedral of Learning , Dippy stands adjacent to the entrances of the Carnegie Music Hall and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History . In addition to its service as a mascot for the museum, Dippy has been seen sporting the Terrible Towel of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the colors of University of Pittsburgh's athletic teams . Sometimes when it's cold out
8814-422: The ovoid scales are closely clustered together and look similar to scales in modern reptiles that are located dorsally. Another orientation on the fossil consists of arching rows of square scales that interrupts nearby polygonal scale patterning. It is noted that the arching scale rows look similar to the scale orientations seen around crocodilian limbs, suggesting that this area may have also originated from around
8927-416: The paratype. There were political reasons rather than scientific for naming the first dinosaur collected by the Carnegie Museum for their patron, Andrew Carnegie. It was not until 1907, that the Carnegie Museum of Natural History created a composite mount of Diplodocus carnegii that incorporated CM 84 and CM 94 along with several other specimens and even other taxa were used to complete the mount, including
9040-405: The position of its nasal openings at the apex of the cranium. Similar aquatic behavior was commonly depicted for other large sauropods, such as Brachiosaurus and Apatosaurus . A 1951 study by Kenneth A. Kermack indicates that sauropods probably could not have breathed through their nostrils when the rest of the body was submerged, as the water pressure on the chest wall would be too great. Since
9153-414: The proposal that its dentition was used for bark-stripping was not supported by the data, which showed that under that scenario, the skull and teeth would undergo extreme stresses. The hypotheses of branch-stripping and/or precision biting were both shown to be biomechanically plausible feeding behaviors. Diplodocine teeth were also continually replaced throughout their lives, usually in less than 35 days, as
9266-410: The recapitulative development of the individual. This is the idea propagated by Ernst Haeckel as a source of evolutionary evidence ( recapitulation theory ). As antecedents of degeneration, Lankester lists: He also considered the axolotl , a mole salamander , which can breed whilst still in its gilled larval form without maturing into a terrestrial adult. Lankester noted that this process could take
9379-643: The recapitulative phases of the barnacle , we may doubt whether naturalists would ever have guessed it was a crustacean ." The lizard Seps has limbs which are "ridiculously small", and Bipes , a burrowing lizard, has no front limbs, and rear limbs reduced to stumps. The Dibamidae are legless lizards of tropical forests who also adopt the burrowing habit. Snakes , which have evolved unique forms of locomotion , and are probably derived from lizards. Thus degeneration or retrogressive metamorphosis sometimes occurs as species adapt to changes in habit or way of life. As evidence of degeneration, Lankester identifies
9492-464: The same strata , which suggests that they coexisted with Diplodocus . Diplodocus is among the most easily identifiable dinosaurs, with its typical sauropod shape, long neck and tail, and four sturdy legs. For many years, it was the longest dinosaur known. Among the best-known sauropods, Diplodocus were very large, long-necked, quadrupedal animals, with long, whip-like tails. Their forelimbs were slightly shorter than their hind limbs, resulting in
9605-488: The second half of his career. Lankester appears, thinly disguised, in several novels. He is the model for Sir Roderick Dover in H. G. Wells ' Marriage (Wells had been one of his students), and in Robert Briffault 's Europa , which contains a brilliant portrait of Lankester, including his friendship with Karl Marx . (Lankester was one of the thirteen people at Marx's funeral.) He has also been suggested as
9718-499: The skeleton were sent to London in 36 crates, and the 25.6 metres (84 ft) long exhibit was unveiled on May 12, 1905, to great public and media interest, with speeches from the museum director Professor Ray Lankester , Andrew Carnegie, Lord Avebury on behalf of the trustees, the director of the Carnegie Museum William Jacob Holland , and finally the geologist Sir Archibald Geikie . The cast
9831-545: The skeleton made the word dinosaur a household word; for millions of people it became the first dinosaur they had ever seen. It was also responsible for the subsequent popularity of the entire genus Diplodocus , since the skeleton has been on display in more places than any other sauropod dinosaur. Its discovery was catalyzed by the announcement of the excavation of a large thigh bone (unrelated to Dippy) by William Harlow Reed near Medicine Bow, Wyoming in December 1898. On
9944-484: The skeleton. The skeleton (CM 84) was preserved in semi articulation and was very complete, including 41 well preserved vertebrae from the mid caudals to the anterior cervicals , 18 ribs, 2 sternal ribs, a partial pelvis, right scapulocoracoid , and right femur. In 1900, Carnegie crews returned to Sheep Creek, this expedition led by John Bell Hatcher , William Jacob Holland , and Charles Gilmore , and discovered another well preserved skeleton of Diplodocus adjacent to
10057-471: The species for Carnegie. Hatcher's monograph on the find was published in 1901 as Diplodocus Marsh: Its Osteology, Taxonomy, and Probable Habits, with a Restoration of the Skeleton . It is a composite skeleton comprising: The original skeleton has been on display at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History since April 1907, two years after the first cast was shown. The delay was due to construction work at
10170-453: The specimen collected in 1899. The second skeleton (CM 94) was from a smaller individual and had preserved fewer vertebrae, but preserved more caudal vertebrae and appendicular remains than CM 84. Both of the skeletons were named and described in great detail by John Bell Hatcher in 1901, with Hatcher making CM 84 the type specimen of a new species of Diplodocus , Diplodocus carnegii (" Andrew Carnegie 's double beam"), with CM 94 becoming
10283-404: The specimen he called Diplodocus carnegii was not actually just a more complete specimen of Diplodocus longus . Although the type specimen was very fragmentary, several additional diplodocid fossils were collected at Felch’s quarry from 1877 to 1884 and sent to Marsh, who then referred them to D. longus . One specimen ( USNM V 2672), an articulated complete skull, mandibles, and partial atlas
10396-420: The specimens to D. longus . This assignment was also questioned by Tschopp, who stated that all of the aforementioned skulls could not be referred to any specific diplodocine. Hundreds of assorted postcranial elements were found in the Monument that have been referred to Diplodocus , but few have been properly described. A nearly complete skull of a juvenile Diplodocus was collected by Douglass in 1921, and it
10509-600: The staff dresses him up with a gigantic scarf. Dippy is a featured Pittsburgh landmark on Yinztagram . Diplodocus Diplodocus ( / d ɪ ˈ p l ɒ d ə k ə s / , / d aɪ ˈ p l ɒ d ə k ə s / , or / ˌ d ɪ p l oʊ ˈ d oʊ k ə s / ) is an extinct genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaurs known from the Late Jurassic of North America. The first fossils of Diplodocus were discovered in 1877 by S. W. Williston . The generic name, coined by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1878,
10622-452: The study also argued that soft tissues could have increased flexibility more than the bones alone suggest. For these reasons they argued that Diplodocus would have held its neck at a more elevated angle than previous studies have concluded. As with the related genus Barosaurus , the very long neck of Diplodocus is the source of much controversy among scientists. A 1992 Columbia University study of diplodocid neck structure indicated that
10735-402: The subsequent evolution of the race into a totally different and otherwise improbable direction. This idea, which Lankester called super-larvation , is now called neoteny . Lankester extended the idea of degeneration to human societies, which carries little significance today, but it is a good example of a biological concept invading social science. Lankester and H. G. Wells used the idea as
10848-419: Was a large man with a large presence, of warm human sympathies and in his childhood a great admirer of Abraham Lincoln . His interventions, responses and advocacies were often colourful and forceful, as befitted an admirer of Huxley, for whom he worked as a demonstrator when a young man. In his personal manner he was not so adept as Huxley, and he made enemies by his rudeness. This undoubtedly damaged and limited
10961-619: Was an active member of the Rationalist group associated with the circle of Thomas Huxley , Samuel Laing and others. He was a friend of the Rationalist Edward Clodd of Aldeburgh . From 1901 to his death in 1929 he was Honorary President of the Ipswich Museum . He became convinced of the human workmanship of the (now unfavoured) 'Pre-palaeolithic' implements and rostro-carinates, and championed their cause at
11074-484: Was briefly described by Charles Gilmore in 1932, who also referred it to D. longus , and it was mounted in the fossil hall at the National Museum of Natural History the same year. In Emmanuel Tschopp et al .'s phylogenetic analysis of Diplodocidae, USNM V 10865 was also found to be an individual of D. hallorum . The Denver Museum of Nature and Science obtained a Diplodocus specimen through exchange from
11187-464: Was collected in 1883, and was the first complete diplodocid skull to be reported. Tschopp et al. ’s analysis placed it as an indeterminate diplodocine in 2015 due to the lack of overlap with any diagnostic Diplodocus postcranial material, as was the fate with all skulls assigned to Diplodocus . After the end of the Bone Wars, many major institutions in the eastern United States were inspired by
11300-468: Was discovered by Michael D'Emic et al. Within each tooth socket, as many as five replacement teeth were developing to replace the next one. Studies of the teeth also reveal that it preferred different vegetation from the other sauropods of the Morrison, such as Camarasaurus . This may have better allowed the various species of sauropods to exist without competition. The flexibility of Diplodocus neck
11413-471: Was even larger, and is estimated to have been the size of four elephants . When first described in 1991, discoverer David Gillette calculated it to be 33 m (110 ft) long based on isometric scaling with D. carnegii . However, he later stated that this was unlikely and estimated it to be 39 – 45 meters (130 – 150 ft) long, suggesting that some individuals may have been up to 52 m (171 ft) long and weighed 80 to 100 metric tons, making it
11526-456: Was later mounted—the first Diplodocus mount made—and was the first well preserved individual skeleton of Diplodocus discovered. In Emmanuel Tschopp et al .'s phylogenetic analysis of Diplodocidae , AMNH FR 223 was found to be not a skeleton of D. longus , but the later named species D. hallorum . The most notable Diplodocus find also came in 1899, when crew members from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History were collecting fossils in
11639-580: Was mounted in the museum's Reptile Gallery to the left of the main hall (until recently the gallery of Human Biology) as it was too large to display in the Fossil Marine Reptile Gallery (to the right of the main hall). Dippy was taken to pieces and stored in the museum's basement during the Second World War to protect it from bomb damage , and reinstalled in the Reptile Gallery after the war. The original presentation of
11752-451: Was not a scientist. We can see that the conflict which took place was one aspect of the struggle undertaken, in their different ways, by Owen , Hooker , Huxley and Tyndall to emancipate science from enslavement by traditional forces. There was trouble from the moment Lankester put forward his candidature for the office vacated by Sir William Flower , who was on the point of death. The Principal Librarian, Sir Edward Maunde Thompson ,
11865-781: Was one of the first to see its importance: his full acceptance of selection came after reading Weismann's essays, some of which he translated into English. Lankester was hugely influential, though perhaps more as a teacher than as a researcher. Ernst Mayr said "It was Lankester who founded a school of selectionism at Oxford". Those he influenced (in addition to Weldon) included Edwin Stephen Goodrich (Linacre chair in zoology at Oxford 1921–1946) and (indirectly) Julian Huxley (the evolutionary synthesis). In turn their disciples, such as E. B. Ford (ecological genetics), Gavin de Beer (embryology and evolution), Charles Elton (ecology) and Alister Hardy (marine biology) held sway during
11978-403: Was originally displayed alongside a cast of a Triceratops skeleton, which was removed around 1993. The tail of the Diplodocus cast was also lifted to waft over the heads of visitors; originally it drooped to trail along the floor. The cast became an iconic representation of the museum. After 112 years on display at the museum, the dinosaur replica was removed in early 2017 to be replaced by
12091-499: Was requested by King Edward VII and it was the first sauropod mount put on display outside of the United States. The goal of Carnegie in sending these casts overseas was apparently to bring international unity and mutual interest around the discovery of the dinosaur. The Carnegie Museum of Natural History made another landmark discovery in 1909 when Earl Douglass unearthed several caudal vertebrae from Apatosaurus in what
12204-586: Was sent to the Yale Peabody Museum and was named Diplodocus longus ('long double-beam') by paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh in 1878. Marsh named Diplodocus during the Bone Wars , his competition with Philadelphian paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope to collect and describe as many fossil taxa as possible. Though several more complete specimens have been attributed to D. longus , detailed analysis has discovered that this type specimen
12317-849: Was shown by the Archbishop of Canterbury offering him an enhanced pension, and the knighthood that was bestowed on him the next year. The issues raised by this affair did not end there. Eventually the NHM gained, first, its administrative freedom, then finally there was a complete separation from the BM. Today the British Library , the British Museum and the Natural History Museum all occupy separate buildings, and have complete legal, administrative and financial independence from each other. Lankester had close family connections with Suffolk (the Woodbridge and Felixstowe area), and
12430-423: Was supported by Gustav Tornier . This hypothesis was contested by William Jacob Holland , who demonstrated that a sprawling Diplodocus would have needed a trench through which to pull its belly. Finds of sauropod footprints in the 1930s eventually put Hay's theory to rest. Later, diplodocids were often portrayed with their necks held high up in the air, allowing them to graze from tall trees. Studies looking at
12543-631: Was the third Director of the Natural History Museum, London , and was awarded the Copley Medal of the Royal Society . Ray Lankester was born on 15 May 1847 on Burlington Street in London , the son of Edwin Lankester , a coroner and doctor-naturalist who helped eradicate cholera in London, and his wife, the botanist and author Phebe Lankester . Ray Lankester was probably named after
12656-541: Was unveiled on the grounds of the Carnegie Institute and Library complex in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , in tribute to the 100th anniversary of the discovery of Dippy. The dark, grayish brown life-size fiberglass model weighs 3,300 pounds (1,500 kg), stands 22 feet (6.7 m), and measures 84 feet (26 m) in length. The sculpture was created during a nine-month process from
12769-536: Was well known in parasites, and Lankester gave several examples. In Sacculina , a genus of barnacles which is a parasite of crabs , the female is little more than "a sac of eggs, and absorbed nourishment from the juices of its host by root-like processes" (+ wood-engraved illustration). He called this degenerative evolutionary process in parasites retrogressive metamorphosis . Lankester pointed out that retrograde metamorphosis could be seen in many species that were not, strictly speaking, degenerate. "Were it not for
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