立即发布:2018年10月11日
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Specimen collected by Cincinnati Museum Center examined by international team of paleontologists
CINCINNATI – A collection of paleontologists from around the world recently published the results of their research shedding light on the development of one of the largest dinosaurs. 研究论文, 发表于科学报告, examined a specimen from the collections of Cincinnati Museum Center (CMC). This small skull is from a sauropod (long-necked herbivorous dinosaur), 研究小组认为，它可能属于一个非常年轻的 梁龙.
它将近100英尺长， 梁龙 inhabited the Late Jurassic Period over 150 million years ago and was one of the largest dinosaurs to ever roam the Earth. Over 100 specimens have been recorded since its initial discovery in 1878, 使它成为最著名的蜥脚类动物之一. 而梁龙的骨架是众所周知的, 颅骨残骸非常罕见, 到目前为止只发现了八个已知的头骨. 那些为数不多的头骨, 大多数来自成年人, revealing very little about the growth and development of the skull in the dinosaur. The discovery of a particularly small skull in 2010 helps to fill this missing gap. 来自加拿大的古生物学家, 英格兰, Germany and across the United States believe the skull can tell us more about the dinosaur’s maturation and development.
“This skull and the knowledge locked away within it is helping us further understand the intimate details surrounding the life history of these remarkable animals,加里·伍德拉夫说, a PhD student working with the Royal Ontario Museum and lead researcher on the paper. “多么可爱的孩子啊!” 梁龙 that hatched from an egg no bigger than a cantaloupe grows up to be 100 feet long within 30 years is astonishing in and of itself – and this skull, 就像一块拼图, 帮助我们弄清楚这种快速增长是如何实现的.”
头骨, 只有24厘米长, is the smallest of its kind ever discovered and was unearthed in south central Montana by CMC paleontologist Glenn Storrs, 博士学位，在落基山脉博物馆的实验室里准备的. 梁龙 考虑到恐龙的巨大体型，头骨非常小, but the discovery of a skull less than half the length of known adult cranial remains leads paleontologists to believe it is from a juvenile animal. 经过仔细检查, 不同之处远不止大小, 揭示了年轻人迄今未知的一面 梁龙 anatomy and showing that juveniles were not merely smaller versions of adults.
“对这个标本的分析不仅有助于阐明个体发生, 或者生命周期, 轨迹的蜥脚类恐龙等 梁龙, 也更好地确定了它们在晚侏罗世生态系统中的位置,斯托尔斯说。, 科学副总裁 & Research and Withrow Farny Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at Cincinnati Museum Center. “这也凸显了我们科学的活力, 加深我们对恐龙古生物学的了解, 即使经过150年对这些神奇动物的深入研究.”
梁龙 is one of at least four sauropods in the Diplodocidae family living together during the Late Jurassic over 150 million years ago in western North America. 而 梁龙 它的近亲非常相似, 它们之间有明显的区别. Some of those differences can be identified in the skull based on the size and shape of the bones. These features were used to help identify the skull in the research paper as likely belonging to 梁龙. 然而, the team notes that since a skull this small have never been found before, 由于颅骨在生长过程中会改变形状, 鉴定头骨为 梁龙 难道不是一个简单的任务吗.
牙齿, 太, 可以定义蜥脚类动物的特征吗, and it was also the teeth that interested the paleontologists the most with the CMC skull. 而成人 梁龙 通常有10或11颗牙齿，论文中的头骨有13颗. 他们的位置, 下颚的位于嘴的前部，沿着下颚向后延伸的, 也不同于成熟 梁龙 specimens, where the teeth are located exclusively toward the front of the mouth. 成熟的 梁龙 牙齿像钉子一样长，牙冠很窄. 发现的头骨上的牙齿延伸到下颌的更后方, and these back teeth are more spoon-shaped – short and wide with rounded crowns.
The differences in 太th number, shape and location between known mature 梁龙 specimens and the skull in question indicates teeth were lost and their location focused more toward the front of the mouth as they aged. 这说明了 梁龙 随着它的成熟而改变. 整体, the recently-discovered skull presents a maturation lifecycle much more complex than a straight line from young juvenile to mature adult.
“从这个小头骨来看，似乎是一个年轻人 梁龙 太k Popeye’s message to heart; if you eat your greens you’ll grow big and strong,” adds Woodruff. “By having different 太th types and a narrow snout it appears that a young 梁龙 could select and chow down on a wider variety of plant types – bulk feeding for its growing body.”
Dr. Storrs is hoping this work will have an impact on the greater public as well. As Cincinnati Museum Center prepares to reopen its museums after a multi-year building restoration, new specimens and the research they inspired may find a home on the gallery floor.
“这是科学在行动. 我们正在使用数据和研究来揭示以前未知的东西, 来真实地重建史前的过去，”斯托斯说. “随着时间的推移，这些发现将为其他发现提供信息, fleshing out for us a robust understanding of how these magnificent animals lived millions of years ago. We’re hoping the museum gallery is where guests can watch that research unfold.”
你可以阅读研究论文的全文 “The Smallest Diplodocid Skull Reveals Cranial Ontogeny and Growth-Related Dietary Changes in the Largest Dinosaurs” in 科学报告 在网上 自然.com/srep. 科学报告 同行评议是在线的吗, 开放获取, multidisciplinary journal that publishes research from all areas of the natural and clinical sciences.
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关于辛辛那提博物馆中心
Cincinnati Museum Center (CMC) at 结合终端 is a nationally recognized institution and national historic landmark. 致力于激发社区对话, 洞察力和灵感, CMC was awarded the 2009 National Medal for Museum and Library Service from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and received accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums in 2012. CMC is one of a select few museums in the nation with both of these honors, 使其成为独特的资产和重要的社区资源. 结合终端 has been voted the nation's 45th most important building by the American Institute of Architects. CMC内的组织包括辛辛那提历史博物馆, 杜克能源儿童博物馆, 自然历史博物馆 & 《十大赌博平台排行榜》，罗伯特D. 林德纳家庭OMNIMAX®剧院和辛辛那提历史图书馆 & 档案. Recognized by Forbes Traveler Magazine as the 17th most visited museum in the country, CMC每年接待游客超过100万人次. 欲了解更多信息，请网上赌搏网站十大排行0iwr437l.minnmortgage.com.