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>
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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>
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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>
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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>
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