What did a 2022 study conclude about the whip-crack idea?

The tail was likely too slow and fragile to go supersonic

How might Diplodocus have used its tail against predators?

Swinging it to strike or warn attackers

Diplodocus Tail Quiz: Whip-Cracking Sauropod Science

Some 80 vertebrae taper into a thin, whip-like end, and this Diplodocus tail quiz asks what that tail could really do. Play 10 interactive questions on the double beam name, chevron bones, Myhrvold and Currie's supersonic idea, the 2022 study that challenged it, trackways without tail drags, balance and defense, Dippy the skeleton and the Morrison Formation.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Name
What does the name Diplodocus mean?
Bones
Roughly how many vertebrae were in a Diplodocus tail?
Theory
What did Nathan Myhrvold and Philip Currie propose in 1997?
Challenge
What did a 2022 study conclude about the whip-crack idea?
Tracks
What do sauropod trackways usually lack?
Balance
What major job did the long tail help with?
Defense
How might Diplodocus have used its tail against predators?
Dippy
Which steel magnate funded famous Diplodocus casts called Dippy?
Namer
Who named Diplodocus in 1878?
Length
Roughly how long was Diplodocus carnegii?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: What does the name Diplodocus mean?
Answer: Double beam
It refers to paired chevron bones under the tail.
Q2: Roughly how many vertebrae were in a Diplodocus tail?
Answer: About 80
They tapered into thin rods.
Q3: What did Nathan Myhrvold and Philip Currie propose in 1997?
Answer: The tail tip could break the sound barrier
They used a computer model.
Q4: What did a 2022 study conclude about the whip-crack idea?
Answer: The tail was likely too slow and fragile to go supersonic
It estimated about 30 meters per second.
Q5: What do sauropod trackways usually lack?
Answer: Tail drag marks
Tails were held off the ground.
Q6: What major job did the long tail help with?
Answer: Counterbalancing the long neck
Neck and tail balanced over the hips.
Q7: How might Diplodocus have used its tail against predators?
Answer: Swinging it to strike or warn attackers
Allosaurus lived alongside it.
Q8: Which steel magnate funded famous Diplodocus casts called Dippy?
Answer: Andrew Carnegie
Casts went to museums worldwide.
Q9: Who named Diplodocus in 1878?
Answer: Othniel Charles Marsh
Marsh named many Morrison dinosaurs.
Q10: Roughly how long was Diplodocus carnegii?
Answer: About 25 meters
Much of that was tail.

Diplodocus Tail Quiz – Whip-Cracking Sauropod Science

Diplodocus was a long-necked sauropod of the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation, named by Othniel Marsh in 1878. Its name means double beam, after paired chevron bones under its tail, which held about 80 vertebrae tapering into a thin whip.

In 1997 Nathan Myhrvold and Philip Currie used a computer model to suggest the tail tip could break the sound barrier. A 2022 study argued the tail was probably too slow and fragile for that, reaching perhaps 30 meters per second.

Trackways rarely show tail drags, so the tail was held off the ground, balancing the long neck. It may have been used for defense or display. Casts of Diplodocus carnegii, funded by Andrew Carnegie and nicknamed Dippy, stand in museums around the world.

What This Quiz Teaches

Dinosaur fans will enjoy these questions.

What the name means
How the tail was built
What the whip theory claims
What newer studies found
How the tail was used

Did You Know?

Dippy toured the UK from 2018 to 2021.
The neck had about 15 vertebrae.
Diplodocus probably ate low and mid-level plants.
Its teeth were peg-like.
Tail chevrons may have protected blood vessels.