Dinosaurs: Secret to Carrying Massive Bodies Uncovered by Scientists

The long-standing mystery of how sauropod dinosaurs, such as the Brontosaurus and Diplodocus, supported their enormous bodies on land has been solved by science.

A team led by the Universities of Queensland and Monash used engineering techniques and 3D modeling to digitally recreate and assess the functionality of various sauropods' foot bones.

The Suspected Idea

According to Dr. Andréas Jannel, who conducted the study as part of his Ph.D. studies at UQ's Dinosaur Lab, the team discovered that sauropods' hind feet had a soft tissue pad beneath the "heel," cushioning the foot to support their enormous weight.

Jannel claimed that they had finally obtained proof of a long-held theory. A soft tissue pad might have been essential in lowering bone stresses and locomotor pressures, and the pads provided the first biomechanical evidence of this. Particularly in the dinosaurs' back feet is a soft tissue pad.

Jannel added that the idea that these enormous creatures could have supported their weight on land is astounding.

For over 100 million years, the largest land animals on Earth were the sauropods.

Discovering tracks of sauropods in terrestrial deposits during the middle of the 20th century disproved the original theory that they were semi-aquatic, with water buoyancy claiming to support their enormous weight.

Sauropod - Elephant Comparisson

According to Dr. Olga Panagiotopoulou of Monash University, it had also been believed that sauropods had feet resembling those of an elephant today.

According to Panagiotopoulou, these behemoths are frequently portrayed in popular culture as having thick, almost cylindrical, elephant-like feet. Popular culture includes Jurassic Park and Walking with Dinosaurs.

She went on to say that, in terms of the structure of the skeletal system, elephants stand on their toes on all four feet, in contrast to sauropods, which have different foot arrangements on their front and back feet.

A large soft tissue pad supports the feet of a sauropod, which are more columnar in the front and somewhat like "wedge high heels" in the back.

This, according to UQ Associate Professor Steve Salisbury, is due to the divergent evolutionary histories of elephants and sauropods.

According to Salisbury, elephants are a member of the ancient proboscidean order of mammals. These small, unremarkable herbivores first emerged in Africa about 60 million years ago.

Sauropods, on the other hand, were more related to birds. 230 million years ago, its ancestors first appeared.

Salisbury added that they were quick, two-legged herbivores that eventually in their evolution transitioned to four-legged walking.

Importantly, the evolution of a heel pad appears to have been part of the transition to being the largest land animal to roam the planet, as the group highlighted in their study.

Research Techniques

The researchers now intend to conduct additional research using engineering and 3D modeling techniques.

Jannel expressed interest in using a similar approach to reconstruct an entire limb, including additional soft tissue like muscles, which are very seldom preserved in fossils.

The research team is eager to examine the appendages of other extinct animals.

Jannel later said that this should make it possible for scientists to respond to various queries about the biomechanics of extinct animals and comprehend their movement, lifestyle, and environmental adaptations, Science Daily reports.