STL Science Center

STL Science Center

11 September 2012

Amargasaurus in Print

Amargasaurus' initial print debut, a paper by Leonardo Salgado and Jose Bonaparte, is fantastically detailed with thorough descriptions of the bones found and compared to known Dicraeosaurid bones from Africa. Speculation into the use of some of the more fantastical elements of Amargasaurus' bones such as the tall neural spines are fairly ignored and the facts as they are take center stage. Some interpretation is made, but it retains the straightforward detail of scientific observation, which is very professionally done. Additionally, Salgado went on to write another paper some years later, this time with Jorge Calvo, examining the cranial structure of Amargasaurus. This paper I have not yet had time to sit and read, though I am quite interested to discover what new things Salgado and Calvo have to say about Amargasaurus since Salgado and Bonaparte's initial discovery. Hopefully I will have time today sometime and I can update this accordingly. Either way, don't ruin it for me by telling me in advance! As for newer papers, I have not found any readily available, though I have found snippets of comparison and discussion around Amargasaurus in other papers. One resource that is current are these blog entries on SVPOW about the shape of the neural spines and how an extant critter has offered some insight into the use of similar neural spines. The guys at SVPOW are real professionals too, and they offer some well thought out discussion about these topics, so they are certainly worth checking out if you never have.

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