Spinophorosaurus was a sauropod dinosaur that lived around 167 million years ago, during the Middle Jurassic. The first two specimens of the genus were excavated from the Irhazer Shale formation in Niger in the 2000s by German and Spanish teams. Spinophorosaurus ("spine-bearing lizard") was the first sauropod to have its skeleton 3D-printed (reconstruction pictured), when the fossils were brought to Europe and digitally replicated. The shoulder height was an estimated 4 m (13 ft), and its weight was about 7 metric tons (7.7 short tons). The braincase was short, deep, and broad, and the teeth were spoon-shaped. The neck contained 13 vertebrae. The tail was powered by strong musculature and had a rear section that was rather rigid due to long and overlapping chevron bones. Features of the vestibular apparatus suggest that vision and coordinated eye, head, and neck movements were important in Spinophorosaurus. Paired spikes on the tail may have been used for defence.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinophorosaurus
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1832:
South Carolina passed the Ordinance of Nullification, declaring that the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 were null and void in the state, beginning the Nullification Crisis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nullification_Crisis
1950:
The "Great Appalachian Storm", a large extratropical cyclone, struck the east coast of the United States before moving northeast. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Appalachian_Storm_of_1950
1976:
A magnitude 7.3 Ms earthquake struck eastern Turkey, destroying 80 per cent of the buildings in the area, with at least 4,000 casualties. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_%C3%87ald%C4%B1ran%E2%80%93Muradiye_earthquake
2016:
The Colombian government signed a revised peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, temporarily bringing an end to the ongoing civil war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombian_peace_process
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
slimeball: 1. (biology) A round lump made up of or coated with slime or a slime- like substance such as mucus. 2. (helminthology, specifically) A mucus-coated lump containing the cercariae (“parasitic larvae”) of a liver fluke (of the phylum Platyhelminthes). 3. (originally US, colloquial, derogatory) A person who is regarded as slimy (that is, sneaky or underhanded) or otherwise undesirable. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/slimeball
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
He whose honor is rooted in popular approval must, day by day, anxiously strive, act, and scheme in order to retain his reputation. For the populace is variable and inconstant, so that, if a reputation be not kept up, it quickly withers away. Everyone wishes to catch popular applause for himself, and readily represses the fame of others. The object of the strife being estimated as the greatest of all goods, each combatant is seized with a fierce desire to put down his rivals in every possible way, till he who at last comes out victorious is more proud of having done harm to others than of having done good to himself. This sort of honor, then, is really empty, being nothing. --Ethics https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ethics_%28Spinoza%29