ArticleScientific reports2022
Multibody analysis and soft tissue strength refute supersonic dinosaur tail.
Article in Scientific reports, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- A case report of a pathology in the 'whip' of a flagellicaudatan sauropod.Die Naturwissenschaften · 2026Article
- Centres of rotation and osteological constraints on caudal ranges of motion in the sauropod dinosaurRoyal Society open science · 2025Article
- Tail of defence: an almost complete tail skeleton ofRoyal Society open science · 2025Article
- Neural canal ridges: A novel osteological correlate of postcranial neuroanatomy in dinosaurs.Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) · 2025Article
- Biomechanics and morphological comparisons of the caudal region of titanosaurs from the Cretaceous of Brazil: Paleobiology and paleoecology inferences.Journal of anatomy · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Sauropod dinosaurs are well known for their massive sizes and long necks and tails. Among sauropods, flagellicaudatan dinosaurs are characterized by extreme tail elongation, which has led to hypotheses regarding tail function, often compared to a whip. Here, we analyse the dynamics of motion of a 3D model of an apatosaurine flagellicaudatan tail using multibody simulation and quantify the stress-bearing capabilities of the associated soft tissues. Such an elongated and slender structure would allow achieving tip velocities in the order of 30 m/s, or 100 km/h, far slower than the speed of sound, due to the combined effect of friction of the musculature and articulations, as well as aerodynamic drag. The material properties of the skin, tendons, and ligaments also support such evidence, proving that in life, the tail would not have withstood the stresses imposed by travelling at the speed of sound, irrespective of the conjectural 'popper', a hypothetical soft tissue structure analogue to the terminal portion of a bullwhip able to surpass the speed of sound.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.