Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Diplodocoidea is one of the most iconic clades of the giant sauropod dinosaurs, known for their elongated necks and tails, and distinctive skull morphology.This group, existing from the Middle Jurassic to the early Late Cretaceous, encompasses three main families: Rebbachisauridae, Dicraeosauridae, and Diplodocidae.These sauropods were globally distributed, demonstrating significant diversity in body plans, feeding strategies, and ecological niches.Diplodocoid paleontology has been marked by extensive studies focusing on skeletal morphology, biomechanics, histology, and evolutionary relationships.Significant research has also explored their ontogeny and niche partitioning, suggesting that diplodocoids had specialized adaptations for low-to midlevel browsing.This contribution is the introduction to a special volume that aims to synthesize current research on Diplodocoidea, offering insights into their evolutionary success, with subsequent contributions addressing their phylogenetic relationships, ontogeny, and morphological variation.
Source: Palaeontologia Electronica
DOI: 10.26879/1518
Authors: Tom van der Linden, Michael Taylor, Amy Campbell, Brian Curtice, René Dederichs, Lucas Lerzo, John Whitlock, Cary Woodruff, Emanuel Tschopp
Language: English
Subfield: Paleontology
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4411845006