Recently, the open-access academic journal "Scientific Reports" under Springer Nature recently published a research paper on paleontological modeling, suggesting that Diplodocus, a plant-eating dinosaur with a long neck and long tail, may be able to move its tail Used as a thick whip, the speed is as high as 33 meters per second (over 100 kilometers per hour).
The finding contradicts a past study that proposed a hypothetical Diplodocus tail structure, similar to the whip-tail tufts, capable of moving faster than the speed of sound (340 meters per second) and causing small supersonic waves. burst.
Simone Conti, the corresponding author of the paper, the University of New Lisbon in Portugal and the Politecnico di Milano in Italy, together with colleagues and collaborators, used a model based on five fossil Diplodocus specimens to simulate Diplodocus tail movement.
More than 12 meters long and weighing 1,445 kilograms, the model's tail is made up of 82 cylinders representing vertebrae attached to the base of an immobile hip bone.
As the base of the tail moves in an arc, it produces a whiplash motion, reaching a maximum speed of 33 meters per second—more than ten times slower than the speed of sound in standard air, unable to produce a supersonic boom.
A video of a model simulation provided by Simone Conte demonstrating the motion of the tail after applying an initial velocity 8 knots forward.
(Reporter Sun Zifa produced Yue Ziyan video source Springer Nature)
Responsible editor: [Song Fangcan]