Talk:Diplodocus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A request has been made for this article to be peer reviewed to receive a broader perspective on how it may be improved. Please make any edits you see fit to improve the quality of this article.

This article is supported by WikiProject Dinosaurs, which aims to improve Wikipedia's coverage of dinosaurs. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page for more information.

Diplodocus is either included in the 2006 Wikipedia CD Selection or is a candidate for inclusion in the next version. Please maintain high quality standards, and if possible stick to GFDL and GFDL-compatible images.

Diplodocus has been listed as a good article under the good-article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can delist it, or ask for a review.

what is the scientific name for a diplodocus

Diplodocus is the scientific name for the genus. It's the same as the common/vernacular name, except when used formally it is always italicized and capitalized; the vernacular may be lower-case and use standard type. The species within the genus are known by their full binomial names: Diplodocus carnegiei, Diplodocus hayi, and Diplodocus longus, which can also be abbreviated to D. carnegiei, D. hayi, and D. longus after the full binomial name has been used at least once. 68.81.231.127 16:18, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Contents 1 Neck/tail counterbalance 2 OK, umm collaboration talk bit is gone so more comments here? 3 Neck and Feeding Posture 4 Comments from successful vote 15 November 2006 4.1 Comments 4.2 Obvious to-do 5 Gettin' there....................

[edit] Neck/tail counterbalance

The article states that the purpose of the long tail is to counterbalance the neck. Is it also possible that the tail was used as a weapon, and that the long neck evolved to counterbalance the tail?

Yes, the tail was used as a weapon sometimes, but as far as which one came first? I am not sure.

Actually there is alot of conjecture about the tail. Will try to stick more in the article Cas Liber 03:03, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] OK, umm collaboration talk bit is gone so more comments here?

OK, moved the statue image to pop culture as it is nice but not correct anymore (head too high)

now to stick this one in

question is, do folk think it's too light?

Agree I agree that it's not too light.--Firsfron of Ronchester 15:49, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

Disagree I disagree that it's too light. It shows up fine on my monitor here at home. I'll check it out at work, just to make sure, because my home PC's monitor is a little darker, but I don't forsee issues.--Firsfron of Ronchester 15:49, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Neck and Feeding Posture

"Interestingly, the range of movement of the neck would have allowed the head to graze below the level of the body, leading scientists to speculate on whether Diplodocus grazed on submerged water plants, from riverbanks. This concept of the feeding posture is supported by the relative lengths of front and hind limbs. Furthermore, its peglike teeth may have been used for eating soft water plants."

This needs referencing, bad. The only studies I know of involving the function of teeth settled on high-browsing because of the lack of grit. That may of course be hopelessly outdated, but stuff like the above needs to be referenced. Also, I think the other side of the argument (tripodal feeding posture, with muscular arteries pushing blood to the head) needs to be addressed. John.Conway 16:49, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

John - it is the same as ref 10. I put it there but wasn't familair with double referencning at the time. Will try to fix Cas Liber 23:01, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Comments from successful vote 15 November 2006

This is now the first Second Tier Collaboration 15/11/06-13/12/06 - working up for FAC. Now if someone wants to update a to-do list......................... Cas Liber 03:16, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Comments

• Already recognized as a Good Article, it shouldn't be that hard to get it up to the next level. Also, as a counter-balance to the large number of Cretaceous Period dinosaurs, some from the Jurassic should also be selected. Firsfron of Ronchester 19:31, 30 October 2006 (UTC)
• It is one of the many dinosaurs I first recognized. M&NCenarius 05:13, 8 November 2006 (UTC)
• Currently a good article, so as Firstron said it should not require too much further work. In addition, as one of the most widely recognised dinosaur making it a featured article makes more sense than (from a publics perspective) a lesser known taxon. Mark t young 13:53, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
• Important, GA & okay for an icky sauropod. ;) Spawn Man 02:35, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
• If we have to choose the first sauropod to be in the FA candidate list, it has to be diplodocus. ArthurWeasley 18:57, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Obvious to-do

• The list of species needs to have explanations of why each one is different, preferably prose-style.
• More references are needed; T. rex has 73, many referenced several times. Diplodocus has 1720. References are definitely required for such statements as Diplodocus is the longest dinosaur known from a complete skeleton.
• Pop culture section de-listified.
• Short paragraphs combined.

Anything else? Firsfron of Ronchester 04:10, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

need to find figures too: an artist reconstitution of diplodocus, size comparisons, etc...ArthurWeasley 04:29, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

The bit about neck posture needs to be expanded on, maybe not to the degree that belongs on the main Sauropod article, but at least enough to convey that this is still a controversial topic. A few extra sources, and discussions that refer specifically to the papers and what they say, would help.Dinoguy2 03:12, 18 November 2006 (UTC)

I just realised from my experience with Stegosaurus - I suspect the description section will need to be larger and swallow up some material from the Paleobiology and subheadings. On the FAC list they didn't seem to like many short subheadings. Cas Liber 21:34, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

........like this. I've moved tail bit. Some form of summary of neck bit can go there too I think. Need to rejig images thoughCas Liber 08:20, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Gettin' there....................

OK guys, I rearranged things a bit; 37 refs is looking better. I suddenly thought some bit on origins in/under classification might be good (relationship t oearly sauropods)Cas Liber 23:12, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

There is a slight inconsistency on the description of the feeding habit of diplodocus in the text. In the 'Neck' section, the theory of the animal feeding on soft aquatic plants is put forward while the 'Diet' section talks about the wear pattern of the teeth consistent with the stripping of plant foliage up to 12 m high above ground. Somehow the alternative riparian theory should be reminded in the diet section, I think. Otherwise, the rest looks pretty good. ArthurWeasley 01:01, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

I've reshuffled a bit the paleobio section. For instance, the depiction of Hay in the middle of the aquatic description seemed a little odd (the depiction does not actually show an aquatic animal) so I moved it to the posture section. I also moved the aquatic plant feeding theory in the diet section ArthurWeasley 01:40, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Yep, that looks better, Arthur. Any idea on what do do with this sentence? A classic 1910 reconstruction by Dr. Oliver P. Hay [1] depicts two Diplodocus with splayed lizard-like limbs on the banks of a river. Firsfron of Ronchester 01:53, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

It's in the posture section. Other stuff: there should be a conclusive note at the end of the posture section stating that the current consensus depicts diplodocus with a stiff neck held horizontally above the ground, I think. Also, the sentence on the trunk need a reference. I am pretty sure I've read it in one of Bakker's book years ago, could somebody confirm? For the diet, have gastroliths ever been associated with diplodocids? Also, could something be said about eggs and nesting habit? Sauropod eggs have been found in South America and Europe which could hint on diplodocus reproductive behavior. Unfortunately, I think no sauropod egg or nest has been found in North America which could lead to speculations that either this animal migrated to lay eggs or that it did not have nesting grounds (as depicted in Walking with dinosaurs). Just putting up some ideas. ArthurWeasley 02:01, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I know it's in the posture section, but it's got a big link in the middle of it. Will work on the rest now. Firsfron of Ronchester 02:04, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

The link is an image. Could this be uploaded in wiki commons and added to the article? That's an old image so what would be its copyright status? ArthurWeasley 02:08, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Copyright expired (published before 1923). The site claims copyright on the images used in the site, but cannot claim copyright on this material. Firsfron of Ronchester 02:15, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

OK. How about this (take a look at the article now)? ArthurWeasley 04:50, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Looks nice and contrasty small, bit blurry when larger. Good one to get into articleCas Liber 04:53, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. I think it looks very good, pity about the blurriness in the larger version. Still, v nice. Firsfron of Ronchester 05:01, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

I added a small bit on reproduction. It's mostly to the effect that "since titanosaurs layed eggs thus, then Diplodocus might have done so too". And I mentioned the Walking with DInosaurs hypothesis. Any other information? Sphenacodon 07:43, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

I know this association (titanosaurs laid eggs a certain way, dippy probably did too) is pretty obvious, but unless it's been suggested in print this is original research (and the WWD bit is speculation for a TV show and doesn't belong outside a discussion of that show).Dinoguy2 03:38, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

Have a look at this: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00197.x?cookieSet=1 I added some info on it in the posture section, if that's the correct place. Sphenacodon 07:35, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

Sorry everyone as I have been a bit quiet on this one. I am going to have to partly wikihibernate

for a week or two to attend to some pressing stuff off the computer, though I will try to drop in. Thus feel free to nominate once people feel the article is worthy..Cas Liber 23:06, 4 December 2006 (UTC)