Dinosaurs from A to Z
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Full A-Z of Dinosaurs
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Lucky Dip

All diplodocoids more closely related to Dicraeosaurus hansemanni than to Diplodocus longus. Dicraeosauridae emerges in the Middle Jurassic as an offshoot within Flagellicaudata. First identified in Tanzania and Patagonia, the family's footprint ultimately spans much of Gondwana and parts of Laurasia, with representatives in China and North America expanding the picture of their early distribution. From this broad geographic base, the lineage develops its own interpretation of the diplodocoid blueprint, a counter-trajectory that sets it apart from its diplodocid cousins and their pursuit of ever-greater elongation.

Dicraeosaurids are defined by their dramatically shortened necks, modestly sized, stocky torsos, and forked vertebral spines that rise along the back and, in some species, become especially long and slender over the neck, where they perhaps anchored twin sails for heat regulation or displays of machismo. While their spinal column is far less hollowed than in diplodocids and their bodies smaller and more compact, their skulls remain long and low with forward-clustered peg teeth, but they were likely tuned to selective browsing of specific food sources.

Dicraeosaurids persist into the Early Cretaceous before gradually fading as climates shift and ecosystems reorganise. Although they outlast diplodocids, their decline begins as herbivorous competitors emerge, with rebbachisaurids and titanosaurs expanding into many of the niches dicraeosaurids once held.

Click here to view Dinochecker's A-Z list of Dicraeosaurids. Dicraeosauridae is derived from the Greek "dikraios" (bifurcated, double-headed) and "sauros" (lizard), named for the long "forked" neural spines on the vertebrae of the neck and back, and their relationship to Dicraeosaurus.