Publications
Super sizing the giants: first cartilage preservation at a sauropod dinosaur limb joint
Daniela Schwarz, Oliver Wings & Christian A. Meyer
This material has been published in the Journal of the Geological Society, London (2007, v.164, pp. 61-65), the only definitive repository of the content that has been certified and accepted after peer review. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by The Geological Society of London.
Abstract
Re-examination of the sauropod dinosaur Cetiosauriscus greppini
von Huene 1922 (Reuchenette Formation; Kimmeridgian, Late Jurassic)
from northwestern Switzerland has revealed a well-preserved cartilage
capsule at the distal extremity of the right humerus. The capsule
represents hyaline cartilage together with fibrocartilage and can be
distinguished by colour, surface structure and histology from the
periosteum of the bone. This is the first fossil evidence for articular
cartilage in a sauropodomorph dinosaur. It indicates the
presence of a large articular capsule on sauropod forelimbs, which was
only hypothesized until now, and shows that the forelimb length of
sauropods was larger than previously assumed.
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© 2007 The Geological Society of London)
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