The News!

Plateosaurus has been known for almost two hundred years now. In that time countless studies have utilized one or more of the species of Plateosaurus to study bone growth, density, shape, locomotion of dinosaurs, dental evolution, etc. In our more recent past Plateosaurus has been the subject of computer modeling studies. A two part article was produced by Heinrich Mallison of the Museum fur Naturkunde in Berlin after a research project for the German Science Foundation on Sauropod locomotion which consisted of a great deal of digital skeletal manipulation of Plateosaurus in 2010. This entire work is extremely comprehensive and detailed. Part 1 of the paper includes videos and fantastic illustrations. Part 2 includes amazing models and even more digital representations of locomotion and bone flexibility and the skeleton than the first part of the paper.

A shorter paper of 2006 approaches the same subject as Mallison's study, though not in the same amount of rigorous detail. This research was attributed to a team led by Hanns-Christian Gunga. The paper describes some of what Mallison goes on to describe and, if read prior to Mallison's work seems like a suitable preamble to the extensive two part study. Additionally, going further back in time, David Weishampel, in 1990, worked with Ralph Chapman to do another similar study, though without the computer rendering and much more in his way and methodology of studying morphometrics and taxanomics and not so much locomotion. As with all of his work it is a technical and thoroughly detailed read which may not be as exciting to some readers who do not enjoy technical writing.

I have bundled all the links together in this one link right here for you readers: Today's Papers.