As we’ve often observed, it’s a funny thing that incredibly well-known dinosaur specimens can sit around for decades, or for more than a century, before someone notices something fascinating about them. One lesson to learn from this is the importance of collections — their creation, maintenance and accessibility.

Let’s look again at Figure 7 of our recent paper on bifurcated cervical ribs in apatosaurines: In this figure, the red muscles (longus colli ventralis) are primarily ventral muscles used to draw the neck downwards, while the blue muscles (flexor colli lateralis) are primarily lateral muscles used to move the neck from side to side.

Back in the first post about our recent paper on bifurcated cervical ribs in apatosaurines, I noted: I’m fond of this one because it’s pleasingly low-tech and traditional.

Last time I promised you exciting news about sauropod neck-muscle mass. Let none say that I do not fulfil covenents. And, as usual, when talking about sauropod neck muscle mass, I’m going to start by talking about bird legs. Look at this flamingo: Ridiculous, right? Those legs are like matchsticks. How can they possibly work.

I don’t remember now when I first noticed bifurcated cervical ribs in apatosaurines. I imagine 2016 at the latest, because on our Sauropocalypse that year Mike and I saw examples at both BYU and Dinosaur Journey.

Bifurcated and incipiently bifurcated cervical ribs of sauropods. A , Moabosaurus utahensis holotype individual, left cervical rib BYU 14063 (not right as stated by Britt et al. 2017), probably associated with C5, in medial view. B , Dicraeosaurus hansemanni holotype MB.R.2379, right cervical rib 8 in lateral view. Modified from Janensch (1929, fig.

Everybody(*) knows that the turiasaurian sauropod Moabosaurus has bifurcated cervical ribs: it was all anyone was talking about back when that animal was described (Britt et al. 2017). We’ve featured the best rib here before, and here it is again: (*) All right, but you know what I mean.

Brian Engh made this and posted it to FaceBook, writing, “Apropos of nothing here’s Mathew Wedel annihilating borderline parasitic theropods with the Bronto-Ischium of Eternal Retribution — a mythic energy weapon/sacred dinosaur ass-bone discovered by Uncle Jim Kirkland, now stored in Julia McHugh’s lair at Dinosaur Journey Fruita CO.” I haven’t blogged about blogging in a while.

Distal end of MWC 4011, an ischium of Apatosaurus louisae that got munched on by a large theropod, probably Allosaurus or Ceratosaurus . On display at Dinosaur Journey in Fruita, Colorado. New paper out today in PeerJ: Lei R, Tschopp E, Hendrickx C, Wedel MJ, Norell M, Hone DWE. 2023. Bite and tooth marks on sauropod dinosaurs from the Morrison Formation.

Back in 2013, we showed you Bob Nicholls’ beautiful sketch “The Giant & Company”, featuring a giant Apatosaurus with a shaggy beard running along its neck.

I’ve been away for two weeks with Fiona in Kefalonia, one of the Greek islands.