Question 1

How do you say Diplodocus?

Accepted Answer

Diplodocus is pronounced DIP-low-DOCK-us. The stress falls on the first syllable, DIP, and then the third syllable, DOCK. You might be tempted to say dih-PLOD-oh-kus, and actually that is an accepted British variant you will still hear scientists use. The most widely taught pronunciation today, especially in North America, is DIP-low-DOCK-us, and either version is considered correct by paleontologists.

Question 2

What does Diplodocus mean?

Accepted Answer

Diplodocus means double beam, which comes from the ancient Greek words diplos meaning double and dokos meaning beam or rafter. The name was chosen by paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh in 1878 to describe the unusual forked chevron bones found on the underside of the animal's tail. These double-beamed bones were what made Diplodocus stand out to scientists when the first fossils were studied, and so the name stuck forever.

Question 3

How big was Diplodocus?

Accepted Answer

Diplodocus was one of the longest animals that ever lived on land, reaching up to about 90 feet, or 27 meters, from the tip of its snout to the end of its whip-like tail. It weighed around 26,000 pounds, which is roughly 13 tons. To put that in perspective, it was longer than two school buses parked end to end. Despite that enormous length, much of it was neck and tail, and it was actually lighter relative to its size than many other sauropods because its bones contained hollow air pockets.

Question 4

When did Diplodocus live?

Accepted Answer

Diplodocus lived during the Late Jurassic period, roughly between 152 and 143 million years ago. This was a time when the land that is now the western United States was a warm, seasonally dry floodplain with rivers, fern meadows, and conifer forests. Diplodocus shared this ancient world with other famous dinosaurs like Stegosaurus, Brachiosaurus, and the predator Allosaurus. The Late Jurassic was one of the golden ages of giant sauropod dinosaurs.

Question 5

What did Diplodocus eat?

Accepted Answer

Diplodocus was a herbivore, meaning it only ate plants. It used its unusual peg-shaped teeth, which were clustered only at the very front of its mouth, to strip leaves and needles from branches like a living rake. It could not chew at all, so it swallowed vegetation whole. Scientists believe it primarily fed on low-growing ferns, shrubs, and possibly low tree branches, sweeping its long neck from side to side rather than raising it up high like a giraffe. It likely needed to eat enormous quantities of plant material every single day to fuel its massive body.

Question 6

Was Diplodocus dangerous?

Accepted Answer

Diplodocus was not a predator and posed no threat to other animals as a hunter. However, it was far from defenceless. Its enormous size alone was a deterrent to most predators. Its massive whip-like tail, which contained over 80 vertebrae and tapered to an incredibly thin tip, could potentially be swung with devastating force. Some scientists have even proposed that Diplodocus could crack its tail like a bullwhip fast enough to create a sonic boom. A full-grown adult Diplodocus was likely virtually untouchable by any predator of its time.

Question 7

Where were Diplodocus fossils found?

Accepted Answer

All confirmed Diplodocus fossils have been found in the western United States, primarily from the famous Morrison Formation. This geological formation stretches across parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Montana, among other states. The most famous specimen, Diplodocus carnegii, was excavated near Sheep Creek in Wyoming around 1899 by workers from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. The Morrison Formation is one of the richest dinosaur fossil sites in the world and has produced fossils from dozens of different dinosaur species.

Question 8

How did Diplodocus hold its neck?

Accepted Answer

This is actually one of the most debated questions in Diplodocus science. For a long time, museum reconstructions showed Diplodocus holding its neck raised high like a giraffe. However, a landmark study in 1999 by Kent Stevens and Michael Parrish used computer modeling of the actual vertebrae to argue that the neck was most naturally held roughly horizontal to the ground. This would mean Diplodocus was a low-level grazer rather than a high-browser. Some scientists still debate whether soft tissue like cartilage allowed more flexibility, so the question is not entirely settled.

Question 9

Did Diplodocus live with T. rex?

Accepted Answer

No, Diplodocus and Tyrannosaurus rex lived at completely different times and never encountered each other. Diplodocus went extinct around 143 million years ago at the end of the Jurassic period. T. rex did not appear until the Late Cretaceous period, around 68 million years ago. That means more time separates Diplodocus from T. rex than separates T. rex from us today. The predators that actually threatened Diplodocus were large Jurassic carnivores like Allosaurus and Torvosaurus.

Question 10

Who discovered Diplodocus?

Accepted Answer

The first Diplodocus fossils were discovered in 1877 by Samuel Wendell Williston, a fossil collector working under the famous paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh during the Bone Wars, an intensely competitive period of fossil hunting in the American West. Marsh formally named and described the genus in 1878. The most complete and famous specimen, Diplodocus carnegii, was found in Wyoming around 1899 by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and named after the industrialist Andrew Carnegie, who funded the expedition.

Question 11

How many Diplodocus species are there?

Accepted Answer

Currently, scientists recognize three valid species of Diplodocus. These are Diplodocus longus, which is the original type species named by Marsh, Diplodocus carnegii, named after Andrew Carnegie and known from the most complete skeleton, and Diplodocus hallorum, which was formerly known as Seismosaurus and is notable for being one of the longest individual specimens ever discovered. Over the years other species have been proposed and then reassigned or invalidated as more fossils were studied and the science became more precise.

Question 12

Could Diplodocus rear up on its hind legs?

Accepted Answer

Some scientists have proposed that Diplodocus could rear up on its hind legs, using its tail as a third point of support like a tripod, in order to reach high vegetation or during social interactions. Computer models and studies of the tail structure suggest that the tail was strong enough to support the animal in this position. However, this behavior remains speculative and not all paleontologists agree it happened regularly. If Diplodocus did rear up, even occasionally, it would have been able to reach heights of around 40 feet, which would be an extraordinary sight.

Question 13

Is Diplodocus the same as Brontosaurus?

Accepted Answer

No, Diplodocus and Brontosaurus are different animals, although they are closely related and both belong to the family Diplodocidae. They lived at roughly the same time in the same region and looked somewhat similar, which caused confusion for many years. Brontosaurus is actually more closely related to Apatosaurus than to Diplodocus. Diplodocus was generally longer and more slender, while Brontosaurus was heavier and more robustly built. Both are fascinating giants of the Late Jurassic, but modern science treats them as distinct genera.

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