Apatosaurus Growth

Wednesday's I sometimes have a lot of information to wed through and present. Apatosaurus is one of those dinosaurs that has been studied enough and is well enough known that we could easily fill a book with the information that is known about it. Specifically, for today, however, the point that we are addressing is the growth of Apatosaurus as has been evidenced in the fossil record. The paper on histology from yesterday addressed that issue quite well actually. The study, and other research has approximated adult age to have been reached in Apatosaurus at around 10 years of age; considering the layering of bone during growth it has been stated that this growth was rather quick. Sexual maturity has been approximated to be achieved around the 19th to 21st year of life and lifespans have been determined to top out between 28 and 31 years of age. These approximations were determined by a recent study of two individual specimens. Tomorrow, if there is time, I will contemplate tackling breathing in addition to the popular appeal of Apatosaurus.