Amargasaurus: Your Dinosaurs Are Wrong #25

  / ydaw   -- It seems like a weird creature compared to what is thought of as the 'standard' sauropod due to its spines. But when we consider it comes from a group of short-necked low-browsers, Amargasaurus makes a lot more sense!

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Contents:
0:00 Opening
1:23 Overview
5:50 Arms & Legs
7:27 Body & Tail
12:41 Head
16:37 Neck & Neck Spines
28:09 Conclusion

Sources & Links:

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Un nuevo sauropod dicraeosauridae, Amargasaurus cazaui gen. et sp. nov., de la formacion La Amarga, neocomiano de la provincia del Nequen, Argentina
Ameghiniana 28, n. 3-4, p. 333-346
1991
http://www.ameghiniana.org.ar/index.p...

Melbourne Amargasaurus Mount
Photo by Sainterx
Public Domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Czerkas, S. A.
Discovery of dermal spines reveals a new look for sauropod dinosaurs
Geology 20 (12): 1068–1070
1992
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Neck posture, dentition, and feeding strategies in Jurassic sauropod dinosaurs
2005
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/20662...

Vidal, D., Mocho, P., Aberasturi, A., Sanz, J. L., & Ortega, F.
High browsing skeletal adaptations in Spinophorosaurus reveal an evolutionary innovation in sauropod dinosaurs
Sci Rep 10, 6638
2020
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-63...

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A new long-spined dinosaur from Patagonia sheds light on sauropod defense system.
Sci Rep 9, 1392
2019
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-37...

Witmer, L. M.
Nostril Position in Dinosaurs and Other Vertebrates and Its Significance for Nasal Function
Vol. 293, Issue 5531, pp. 850-853
2001
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1062681

Carabajal, A. P., Carballido, J. L., & Currie, P. J.
Braincase, neuroanatomy, and neck posture of Amargasaurus cazaui (Sauropoda, Dicraeosauridae) and its implications for understanding head posture in sauropods
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 34:4, 870-882
2014
https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2014...

Taylor, M. P., Wedel, M. J., & Naish, D.
Head and neck posture in sauropod dinosaurs inferred from extant animals.
Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 54(2): 213-220.
2009
http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/publish...

"Jose Bonaparte: Master of the Mesozoic"
by Don Lessem
Omni, May 1993

Schwarz, D., Frey, E., & Meyer, C. A.
Pneumaticity and soft-tissue reconstructions in the neck of diplodocid and dicraeosaurid sauropods
Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 52 (1), 2007: 167-188
2007
https://www.app.pan.pl/article/item/a...

Woodruff, D. C.
Nuchal ligament reconstructions in diplodocid sauropods support horizontal neck feeding postures
Historical Biology, 29:3, 308-319
2017
https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2016...

Ankole-Watusi Photo
Ruben van Kuik
CC BY-SA 4.0
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Woodruff, D. C.
The anatomy of the bifurcated neural spine and its occurence within Tetrapoda
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2014
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Bailey, J. B.
Neural spine elongation in dinosaurs: Sailbacks or buffalo-backs?
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Rega, E. A., Noriega, K., Sumida, S. S., Huttenlocker, A., Lee, A., & Kennedy, B.
Healed Fractures in the Neural Spines of an Associated Skeleton of Dimetrodon: Implications for Dorsal Sail Morphology and Function.
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2012
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Alpine ibex Photo
Nino Barbieri
CC BY-SA 3.0
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Brown, C. M.
An exceptionally preserved armored dinosaur reveals the morphology and allometry of osteoderms and their horny epidermal coverings.
PeerJ 5:e4066
2017
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4066

Coria, R. A., Windholz, G. J., Ortega, F., & Currie, P. J.
A new dicraeosaurid sauropod from the Lower Cretaceous (Mulichinco Formation, Valanginian, Neuquén Basin) of Argentina.
Cretaceous Research Volume 93, Pages 33-48
2019
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'YDAW' is a series that makes paleontology accessible to the general public using familiar (but wrong) dinosaur toys.