Diplodocus reconstruction with kinesiological method + historic sauropod ulna from Chile (free pdfs)
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Ben Creisler
Mar 15, 2026, 1:39:21 AM (2 days ago) Mar 15
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Ben Creisler
Omar Vicencio-Campos, Luis Chirino-Gálvez, Jhonatan Alarcón-Muñoz, Antonia Atisha & Agustín G. Martinelli (2026)
Historical record of a sauropod (Dinosauria: Titanosauria) specimen at the Museo Seminario Valparaíso: the first dinosaur discovery of Chile?
Registro histórico de un especimen de saurópodo (Dinosauria: Titanosauria) del Museo Seminario Valparaíso: ¿El primer descubrimiento de un dinosaurio en Chile?
Publicación Electrónica de la Asociación Paleontológica Argentina 26(1): 113–128
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5710/PEAPA.08.12.2025.555
https://peapaleontologica.org.ar/index.php/peapa/article/view/555
Free pdf:
https://peapaleontologica.org.ar/index.php/peapa/article/view/555/944
Since its founding in 1870, the Colegio Seminario San Rafael of Valparaíso has offered natural science-related courses, complemented by laboratory work. Thus, in 1881, five science “cabinets” were established within the school premises, and in 1886, the building that still houses them was inaugurated. The Museo Seminario Valparaíso (MSV) houses various natural history collections, among which a notable paleontological collection stands out, comprising paleobotanical, invertebrate, and vertebrate specimens. Within one of the oldest mineral collection showcases, associated with copper oxides and sulfides samples, a proximal fragment of a right sauropod ulna was found. This ulna must have been deposited long ago, which is proven when it is considered that the associated mineral specimens with collection register labels on the shelf dates between 1860 and 1896, and because this collection has not been modified and it has remained unchanged for over a century. On the other hand, it was only in the 1960s that the first formal descriptions of dinosaur bone records in Chile were made, based on indeterminate titanosaur remains from the informal unit “Estratos de Quebrada La Totora”. Morphological comparisons of the ulna suggest affinities with the clade Titanosauria. Furthermore, based on its preservation characteristics, the provenance of the specimen is attributed to the Estratos de Quebrada La Totora, Coquimbo region. In this way, the specimen could represent the first discovery of a non-avian dinosaur in Chile and the first historical evidence of titanosaurs found in a Chilean museum collection.
New papers:
Free pdf:
Norihisa INUZUKA (2025)
Reconstruction of Diplodocus (sauropod) body shape and gait with kinesiological method
Memoir of the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum 24: 1–14
https://www.dinosaur.pref.fukui.jp/archive/memoir/memoir024-001.pdf
Sauropods are among the largest of all dinosaurs. They have been restored to various body shapes, but the reason for their unique body shape with long necks and tails has not been clarified. Here, we focus on Diplodocus, known as the longest dinosaur, and attempt to consider it based on comparative osteology, functional morphology, biomechanics, syndesmology, ichnology, and kinesiology. The unique features of sauropod fossils are the abnormally long neck and tail, the relatively short trunk, the V-shaped spinous processes of the cervical and dorsal vertebrae, and anterior caudal vertebrae, the tallest spinous process of the sacral vertebrae, and the forefoot prints that are significantly smaller than the hind foot prints. It would be desirable to have a theory that can explain all these observed facts with a single body shape and gait. In conclusion, it is speculated that diplodocoids had a bow-shaped body shape, that was balanced by the head, trunk and tail, with the hips as the fulcrum, and that they walked at a very slow trot and substantially bipedally, aided by the recoil of the spine, which was supported by long supraspinous ligaments containing elastic fibers.
Norihisa INUZUKA (2025)
Reconstruction of Diplodocus (sauropod) body shape and gait with kinesiological method
Memoir of the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum 24: 1–14
https://www.dinosaur.pref.fukui.jp/archive/memoir/memoir024-001.pdf
Sauropods are among the largest of all dinosaurs. They have been restored to various body shapes, but the reason for their unique body shape with long necks and tails has not been clarified. Here, we focus on Diplodocus, known as the longest dinosaur, and attempt to consider it based on comparative osteology, functional morphology, biomechanics, syndesmology, ichnology, and kinesiology. The unique features of sauropod fossils are the abnormally long neck and tail, the relatively short trunk, the V-shaped spinous processes of the cervical and dorsal vertebrae, and anterior caudal vertebrae, the tallest spinous process of the sacral vertebrae, and the forefoot prints that are significantly smaller than the hind foot prints. It would be desirable to have a theory that can explain all these observed facts with a single body shape and gait. In conclusion, it is speculated that diplodocoids had a bow-shaped body shape, that was balanced by the head, trunk and tail, with the hips as the fulcrum, and that they walked at a very slow trot and substantially bipedally, aided by the recoil of the spine, which was supported by long supraspinous ligaments containing elastic fibers.
===
Free pdf:
Omar Vicencio-Campos, Luis Chirino-Gálvez, Jhonatan Alarcón-Muñoz, Antonia Atisha & Agustín G. Martinelli (2026)
Historical record of a sauropod (Dinosauria: Titanosauria) specimen at the Museo Seminario Valparaíso: the first dinosaur discovery of Chile?
Registro histórico de un especimen de saurópodo (Dinosauria: Titanosauria) del Museo Seminario Valparaíso: ¿El primer descubrimiento de un dinosaurio en Chile?
Publicación Electrónica de la Asociación Paleontológica Argentina 26(1): 113–128
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5710/PEAPA.08.12.2025.555
https://peapaleontologica.org.ar/index.php/peapa/article/view/555
Free pdf:
https://peapaleontologica.org.ar/index.php/peapa/article/view/555/944
Since its founding in 1870, the Colegio Seminario San Rafael of Valparaíso has offered natural science-related courses, complemented by laboratory work. Thus, in 1881, five science “cabinets” were established within the school premises, and in 1886, the building that still houses them was inaugurated. The Museo Seminario Valparaíso (MSV) houses various natural history collections, among which a notable paleontological collection stands out, comprising paleobotanical, invertebrate, and vertebrate specimens. Within one of the oldest mineral collection showcases, associated with copper oxides and sulfides samples, a proximal fragment of a right sauropod ulna was found. This ulna must have been deposited long ago, which is proven when it is considered that the associated mineral specimens with collection register labels on the shelf dates between 1860 and 1896, and because this collection has not been modified and it has remained unchanged for over a century. On the other hand, it was only in the 1960s that the first formal descriptions of dinosaur bone records in Chile were made, based on indeterminate titanosaur remains from the informal unit “Estratos de Quebrada La Totora”. Morphological comparisons of the ulna suggest affinities with the clade Titanosauria. Furthermore, based on its preservation characteristics, the provenance of the specimen is attributed to the Estratos de Quebrada La Totora, Coquimbo region. In this way, the specimen could represent the first discovery of a non-avian dinosaur in Chile and the first historical evidence of titanosaurs found in a Chilean museum collection.
Jaime Headden
Mar 15, 2026, 3:49:16 AM (2 days ago) Mar 15
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>
Free pdf:
>Norihisa INUZUKA (2025)
Reconstruction of Diplodocus (sauropod) body shape and gait with kinesiological method
Memoir of the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum 24: 1–14
https://www.dinosaur.pref.fukui.jp/archive/memoir/memoir024-001.pdf
>Sauropods are among the largest of all dinosaurs. They have been restored to various body shapes, but the reason for their unique body shape with long necks and tails has not been clarified. Here, we focus on Diplodocus, known as the longest dinosaur, and attempt to consider it based on comparative osteology, functional morphology, biomechanics, syndesmology, ichnology, and kinesiology. The unique features of sauropod fossils are the abnormally long neck and tail, the relatively short trunk, the V-shaped spinous processes of the cervical and dorsal vertebrae, and anterior caudal vertebrae, the tallest spinous process of the sacral vertebrae, and the forefoot prints that are significantly smaller than the hind foot prints. It would be desirable to have a theory that can explain all these observed facts with a single body shape and gait. In conclusion, it is speculated that diplodocoids had a bow-shaped body shape, that was balanced by the head, trunk and tail, with the hips as the fulcrum, and that they walked at a very slow trot and substantially bipedally, aided by the recoil of the spine, which was supported by long supraspinous ligaments containing elastic fibers.
>Norihisa INUZUKA (2025)
Reconstruction of Diplodocus (sauropod) body shape and gait with kinesiological method
Memoir of the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum 24: 1–14
https://www.dinosaur.pref.fukui.jp/archive/memoir/memoir024-001.pdf
>Sauropods are among the largest of all dinosaurs. They have been restored to various body shapes, but the reason for their unique body shape with long necks and tails has not been clarified. Here, we focus on Diplodocus, known as the longest dinosaur, and attempt to consider it based on comparative osteology, functional morphology, biomechanics, syndesmology, ichnology, and kinesiology. The unique features of sauropod fossils are the abnormally long neck and tail, the relatively short trunk, the V-shaped spinous processes of the cervical and dorsal vertebrae, and anterior caudal vertebrae, the tallest spinous process of the sacral vertebrae, and the forefoot prints that are significantly smaller than the hind foot prints. It would be desirable to have a theory that can explain all these observed facts with a single body shape and gait. In conclusion, it is speculated that diplodocoids had a bow-shaped body shape, that was balanced by the head, trunk and tail, with the hips as the fulcrum, and that they walked at a very slow trot and substantially bipedally, aided by the recoil of the spine, which was supported by long supraspinous ligaments containing elastic fibers.
This is such a fascinating paper, from the methodology to the familiar, 1980s level of description, the use of aphorism and broad comparison without specific data linking, in order to reach a fairly comprehensible conclusion. I mean, one can disagree with its conclusions and take issue with its methodology and at times quizzical comparisons (eg, Diplodocus skulls compared to that of horses, to "see over grasses"). It just such a fascinating old-style paper that I'm actually enjoying reading it.
Cheers,
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Jaime A. Headden
The Bite Stuff: http://qilong.wordpress.com/
"Innocent, unbiased observation is a myth" - P. B. Medawar (1969)
Mickey Mortimer
Mar 16, 2026, 3:38:06 AM (yesterday) Mar 16
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To me it reads like a Feduccia paper on dinosaurs- disconnected with modern scientific methods and concepts, heavily invested in the author's own work (a third of the works in the bibliography), and using simplistic and questionable concepts to inform unsupported conclusions. As a random example- "Camarasaurus, known for its buried posture with its neck tilted back, is a member of the same Macronaria as Brachiosaurus. If Brachiosaurus is likened to a giraffe, then it may have been similar to an okapi. If so, it may have held its neck upright in life." Ah yes, because one skeleton was preserved in the opisthotonic posture and because it has a shorter neck than Brachiosaurus (probably based on Giraffatitan) as okapis do compared to giraffes, thus the neck was upright? When Brachiosaurus' upright neck is only asserted in the paper ("Brachiosaurus, which grew large by erecting its neck like a giraffe") and problems with that are waved away with hypotheticals- "Elevating the head by about 10 m would have required high blood pressure (Fastovsky and Weishampel, 1996), but the skin on the limbs would have been tight like a supporter, and the blood vessels in the head would have had a more efficient wonder net than those of a giraffe." Would they have and would it have? I have little opinion on sauropod posture, but this is scientifically worthless.
Mickey Mortimer
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