Ask Me Everythingt
01: Sauropods lived in the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods.
02: Sauropod fossils have been found worldwide.
03: Morę than 100 different sauropods have been named.
04: Diplodocus and its relatives had longer tails and short arms.
05: Brachiosaurus and its relatives had shorter tails and long arms.
The giant plant-eating sauropods are famous for their incredibly long necks. Experts have argued for decades about how these dinosaurs held their necks, and what they used them for. We now know that sauropod necks were remarkably light for their size, and were probably heid in raised postures.
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. had long necfef WKPOds bod'es. However J? bi9
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andafeWSo,L hort neck °^aSbigasPh00*e^e
5ome sauropod necks were morę than 50 ft (15 m) long. Even the long neck of the modern giraffe is short (at 6 ft, or 2.4 m) lpared to the longest sauropod neck.
Advantages of a long neck
^ ^ It allows you to reach w A higher up into the trees than other herbivores and so avoid competition for food.
You can reach a large w u area without moving much, so you can save energy.
The size of your neck w O can show how strong and healthy you are and make you morę attractive to mates.
You can use your neck wul as a weapon for fighting enemies or competitors.
With your head high, w w you can see, smell, or hear danger from far away.
A long windpipe can w w make superloud noises that travel long distances.
Tell me morę: rearing up
Diplodocus and its re!atives could probably rear up on their back legs. This allowed them to reach even higher into the trees, perhaps to
Disadvantages of a long neck
^ ^ Long necks lose a lot w * of heat, so you can only hve in warm climates.
You need special tricks w u to move air in and out of a long windpipe. Sauropods had a special air-sac system.
Pumping blood up w O a long neck to the head reąuires strong blood vessels, a big heart, and high blood pressure.
f\/i Long windpipes are morę prone to fungal diseases and other infections.
Growing all W w that extra bonę, muscle, and skin uses up a lot of energy.
Thighbones: Were sturdy enough to take the animal’s total body weight
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Sauropods 72|73
(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved
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