Dicraeosaurus Characteristics

Diplodocids were sauropods with long necks and tails, slim bodies and limbs, and tiny brains and heads. They were light in relevance to the brachiosaurs, because their vertebrae were a lattice of bony struts, used to reduce weight and take maximum stress.

Unlike most diplodocids, Dicraeosaurus had a large head since its neck was shorter and wider. It also lacked the whiplash tail that diplodocids had. Dicraeosaurus measured around 65 feet in length and weighed around 10 tons. It gets its name, which means two-forked lizard, from the spines that came from the vertebrae. They were not straight as in some members of the family. Each one was 'Y' shaped, like a fork. These spines also provided muscle attachment points.

Fossils indicate that Dicraeosaurus may have had a small sail on its back, which could have been used to regulate temperature. Most dinosaurs are believed to have been cold-blooded. This means that as the air around them cooled, so did their bodies. They lacked the ability to generate their own heat. A sail would have allowed Dicraeosaurus and other sailed dinosaurs to gather in sunlight, and pass warmth to their bodies through their blood.

Dicraeosaurus was a herbivorous dinosaur, however, it did not compete with other herbivorous dinosaurs such as the Kentosaurus for vegetation as fossil discovery indicates that due to the distinct difference in sizes of these dinosaurs, they browsed for vegetation at different levels.

The first fossil was described by paleontologist Werner Janensch in 1914. Fossils have been discovered in the rocks of Tendaguru Hill in Tanzania. The rocks also yield fossils of Giraffatitan and Kentrosaurus.