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SpinoInWonderland — Brachytrachelopan mesai skeletal reconstruction

#dinosaurs #jurassic #prehistoric #prehistoricanimal #prehistoricanimals #prehistoriclife #sauropod #skeleton #saurischian #brachytrachelopanmesai #saurischia #brachytrachelopan #sauropodomorpha #diplodocoid #skeletalreconstruction #shortnecksauropod #dinosaur
Published: 2018-01-06 10:11:37 +0000 UTC; Views: 10795; Favourites: 176; Downloads: 44
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Description Brachytrachelopan mesai ("Mesa's short-necked shepherd god") is a species of dicraeosaurid diplodocoid that lived in what is now Patagonia during the Late Jurassic. Its remains were found in the Canadon Calcareo Formation. It had the proportionally shortest neck known in any known sauropod, short even by dicraeosaurid standards, and its tall, anterior-leaning cervical neural spines would have had prevented it from raising its neck much beyond horizontal.

Missing portions were filled in using Dicraeosaurus.

Reconstructed dimensions
  • Hip height: ~2.23 metres
  • Shoulder height: ~2.03 metres
  • Total height: ~2.76 metres
  • Standing length: ~11 metres
  • Axial length: ~11.66 metres

References
  • Rauhut et al., 2005, "Discovery of a short-necked sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of Patagonia"
  • Rauhut & Lopez-Arbarello, 2008, "Archosaur evolution during the Jurassic: A Southern perspective"
  • Janensch, 1929, "Die Wirbelsäule der Gattung Dicraeosaurus"
  • Janensch, 1936, "Die Schädel der Sauropoden Brachiosaurus, Barosaurus und Dicraeosaurus aus den Tendaguru-Schichten Deutsch-Ostafrikas"
  • Janensch, 1961, "Die Gliedmaszen und Gliedmaszengürtel der Sauropoden der Tendaguru-Schichten"
  • Schwarz-Wings & Böhm, 2014, "A morphometric approach to the specific separation of the humeri and femora of Dicraeosaurus
    from the Late Jurassic of Tendaguru, Tanzania"
  • Gallina et al., 2019, "A new long-spined dinosaur from Patagonia sheds light on sauropod defense system"
  • Photographs of mounted Dicraeosaurus skeleton (12 )

Update log
  • 3/16/2018: Some tweaks to silhouette, teeth and scalebar updated to my new conventions.
  • 1/24/2021: A major rework following my Dicraeosaurus reconstruction, allowing better cross-scaling and gapfilling. For comparison, the old version is here.
  • 4/8/2022: Added clavicles and interclavicle.
Related content
Comments: 36

MarioLanzas [2018-11-16 16:42:11 +0000 UTC]

is the tail really that disproportionately long?

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

SpinoInWonderland In reply to MarioLanzas [2018-11-17 07:57:09 +0000 UTC]

Given that the tail is entirely unpreserved, we can't answer that for sure. Maybe, maybe not.


The proportional size of the tail in my reconstruction is due to it being cross-scaled based on the ilium so it can fit well with the hips. Brachytrachelopan's ilium is apparently larger than that of Dicraeosaurus hansemanni in both relative and absolute terms going by the figures and scalebars (there are currently no written measurements), so the parts scaled based on it ended up quite large.


I once had the tail scaled smaller some time back, based on the dorsals, during the making of the skeletal, but then the ischium, scaled and articulated, encompassed far too many caudals (about ~6-7 IIRC), which is something not seen in the gapfiller taxon Dicraeosaurus.

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

Sudamerica In reply to SpinoInWonderland [2020-03-12 19:04:30 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

SpinoInWonderland In reply to Sudamerica [2020-03-13 12:58:33 +0000 UTC]

It's the condition in so far all dicraeosaurids where both neck and tail are known. Unless there's some extraordinary evidence for the contrary (keep in mind how long the neck of Brachytrachelopan is), and there isn't, the default hypothesis is that it holds true for Brachytrachelopan as well.

👍: 1 ⏩: 0

Strick67 [2018-02-24 03:12:46 +0000 UTC]

That's one sawn-off sauropod!
Not a dinosaur I heard much about other than the short description in the Princeton Field Guide.

Nice reconstruction.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

GigaBoss101 [2018-01-23 21:35:52 +0000 UTC]

#Hippopod
Also, i'm really surprised people haven't heard of this guy.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

TheWatcherofWorlds [2018-01-17 02:21:27 +0000 UTC]

Shepherd god... wow

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

SpinoInWonderland In reply to TheWatcherofWorlds [2018-01-17 08:10:38 +0000 UTC]

That's because it was named after Pan, the Greek god of shepherds. This was supposed to refer to the fact that Daniel Mesa (the person the specific epithet was named after) found the specimen while he was looking for stray sheep.

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TheWatcherofWorlds In reply to SpinoInWonderland [2018-01-17 13:49:55 +0000 UTC]

I can just imagine a large flock of sheep following the sauropod...

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Phillip2001 [2018-01-14 10:27:07 +0000 UTC]

Very great!!

Fantastic job on this.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Paleo-King [2018-01-12 04:30:38 +0000 UTC]

It's the diplodcoid hippo-cow! With that low belly it's a big possibility this animal was semi-aquatic. I'm not a big fan of that theory with sauropods, but in the case of REALLY deep/low bellies like this or like Yongjinglong (and other opisthocoelicaudines) you really have to wonder...

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Paleo-King [2018-01-12 04:28:50 +0000 UTC]

Good one. I like this skeletal better than the other ones online. The short thick neck looks a lot more believable here, with the bigger body and smoother spine curve.

This animal is probably the best example of why sauropods don't need equal-length necks and tails for "balance". Heavy quadrupeds can have any length of neck and tail, even wildly "mismatched" looking ones, and still balance just fine. The other extreme of this case would be smaller tails and whoppin' long necks - mamenchisaurs, brachiosaurs, some chubutisaurs, euhelopodids, and a few crazy-necked titanosaurs like Rapetosaurus that have little tails.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

SpinoInWonderland In reply to Paleo-King [2018-01-12 07:34:05 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, it's like people forget that the vast majority of the mass is still packed in the torso. However impressive the necks and tails of sauropods may seem, they still constitute a low portion of the total mass and have little actual effect on balance.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Paleo-King In reply to SpinoInWonderland [2018-01-12 08:36:26 +0000 UTC]

dingdingding!!! We HAVE A WINNER

Finally someone on DA other than the big names, gets what I've been saying about sauropods. 75-80% of the mass was in the torso, hips and limbs. NOT the neck and tail. "Balance" wasn't even on their minds.

You may well go on to achieve great things. Like a PhD. or at least the St. Regis University version

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Wyatt-Andrews-Art [2018-01-06 19:34:05 +0000 UTC]

S O













H U G G A B L E

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

SpinoInWonderland In reply to Wyatt-Andrews-Art [2018-01-07 16:31:55 +0000 UTC]

LOL

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

acepredator [2018-01-06 17:41:19 +0000 UTC]

WTF evolution

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

SpinoInWonderland In reply to acepredator [2018-01-07 06:33:58 +0000 UTC]

That is what happens when sauropods actually specialize towards low grazing habits.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Spinosaurus14 [2018-01-06 16:31:21 +0000 UTC]

Wow what the fuck is this.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

SpinoInWonderland In reply to Spinosaurus14 [2018-01-07 06:33:24 +0000 UTC]

A specialized low-grazing sauropod.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

9Weegee [2018-01-06 16:03:47 +0000 UTC]

Never heard of it, and I'm quite surprised that I haven't. Anyways, this is wayy to underrated.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

SpinoInWonderland In reply to 9Weegee [2018-01-07 06:35:08 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, many sauropods are quite underrated. It's sad, really. People are always going on and on about popular overused stock taxa, while the rest are just forgotten.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Evodolka [2018-01-06 14:58:17 +0000 UTC]

1 of the weirdest yet coolest sauropods

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Dinopithecus [2018-01-06 14:44:09 +0000 UTC]

If non-avian dinosaurs were still alive today or had we ever lived with them, I think we'd consider this short necked sauropod with a tail longer than its body to be a freak.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Dinopithecus In reply to Dinopithecus [2018-01-07 13:44:14 +0000 UTC]

Then again, we don't actually have the tail.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Majestic-Colossus [2018-01-06 12:27:39 +0000 UTC]

Very good skeletal. The detail is great!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

bh1324 [2018-01-06 11:53:44 +0000 UTC]

Sauropod trying to be an Iguanodontid, or alternativelly an Stegosaurid

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

SpinoInWonderland In reply to bh1324 [2018-01-06 12:12:48 +0000 UTC]

That's pretty much Dicraeosauridae in a nutshell, but Brachytrachelopan takes it even further than the rest.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

MerkavaDragunov [2018-01-06 11:34:38 +0000 UTC]

what strange looking creature
awesome skeletal

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

asari13 [2018-01-06 11:32:09 +0000 UTC]

nice

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Corallianassa [2018-01-06 10:24:03 +0000 UTC]

Very nice skeletal.
I´m somewhat surprised by the massive tail.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

SpinoInWonderland In reply to Corallianassa [2018-01-06 11:41:44 +0000 UTC]

The tail looks massive due to it's short neck  

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Corallianassa In reply to SpinoInWonderland [2018-01-06 12:38:50 +0000 UTC]

It also looks massive just in general, even compared to that potato-like torso.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

SpinoInWonderland In reply to Corallianassa [2018-01-07 06:32:40 +0000 UTC]

That's due to it being cross-scaled based on the ilium so it can fit well with the hips. Brachytrachelopan's ilium is apparently larger than that of Dicraeosaurus hansemanni in both relative and absolute terms going by the figures and scalebars (no written measurements were provided), so the parts scaled based on it ended up quite large.

I had the tail scaled smaller some time back (scaled based on the dorsals) during the making of the skeletal, but then the ischium, when scaled and articulated, encompassed far too many caudals (about ~6-7 IIRC), something not seen in Dicraeosaurus (the gapfiller taxon).

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Corallianassa In reply to SpinoInWonderland [2018-01-07 09:18:57 +0000 UTC]

I wasn´t saying it was wrong. I already read your good reasons on discord.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

SpinoInWonderland In reply to Corallianassa [2018-01-07 11:10:48 +0000 UTC]

Okay.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0