Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-16
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

Poor old diplodocos-
He was about the biggest creature
that ever lived on earth-and his brains
we're in his tail.
One hundred and fifty million years
ago, more or less, he wallowed with his
15-odd tons of flesh and bone in a semi
tropical swamp now covered by the
mountains of Northeastern Utah.
After six years of almost continuous
labor OF three men at the National
Museum, his gigantic skeleton has been
pieced together and in another year or
so will be ready to be set up in the ex-
hibition hall.
Everything about diplodocos was big,
and the job of rebuilding him has been
big in proportion. His bones were first
recovered at Dinosaur National Monu-
ment, Utah, in 1923, by a Smithsonian
party in charge of DR.. Charles w. Gill
more of the department of vertebrate
paleontology. They were inclosed in
blocks of sandstone. Finally $4,000
pounds of material were taken out of
the mountains and transported by
wagons $50 miles to the nearest rail
shipping point over mountain 5000
feet high.
Bones Cut Out of Stone.
All the time since has been taken up
in cutting the bones out of the hard
sandstone and fitting them together.
The work had to be done carefully.
sometimes nearly month was required
to prepare single vertebra, and there
were about SO in all. Each bone had to
be put in its right place and casts made
to fill missing parts. Diplodocos was
approximately 80 feet long. The re-
HnnCtrIrNfAA cE
wooden framework, still is lacking part
Of its tail. The big workshop on the
ground floor of the National Museum is
not big enough to hold him all. Diplo-
docos couldn't possibly have been
squeezed into it when he was alive.
demonstrating the skeleton of one of
THESE giant lizards, DR.. Gilmore saws.
reveals some curious anatomical fea-
lures which can no longer be found
IN vertebrate life. Chief of these is
the brain In the tail. Diplodocos didn't
his enormous bulk he was about the
dumbeSt creature that ever stood on
four legs. He had enough brains to
eat and sleep, and that was about ali
But he had two Of them, one In his
head and another, very much larger.
at the opposite end Of his spine. This
is shown clearly in the reconstructed
Skleton.
Was Smelling Creature.
This, says Mr.. Gilmore, is one of
the unsolved mysteries of the evolution
OF the nervous system. Diplodocos. like
other Vertebrates, had a brain in his
head, a tiny mass of nerve cells and
their connections, weighing about 2
ounces. The most prominent parts of
1t were the olefactory lobes which
enable him to smell. He was largely
smelling creature. The indications
from his brain cast are that he couldn't
see or hear very we'll. Probably the
world was an tndistinct blur around
him.
He had q cerebellum, or division
of the brain which controlled his sense
OF balance. but it was very small one
considering the enormous body which
he had to keep in equilibrium. Prob
ably the brain cast indicates, he kept
breathing and his heart kept beating
from the little brain in his head. This
also probably controlled his sense of di-
rection, at least the direction Of the
front part of him.
But at the end Of the Sacral Verte-
brae was mass Of nerve cells which,
according to the species OF ancient
lizard, was from to 20 times larger
than the brain in his head. What use
he made Of it nobody knows. It is
not known whether there was any di-
rect connection between the two brains.
Concerned With Hind Parts.
One theory is, Mr.. Gilmore says, that
the Observation-Disclosures" was merely the
seat of reflex activities of the hind
legs. Diplodocos' interests In life were
even more concerned with his hind
parts then his foreparts. He was an
enormously heavy animal and he lived
mostly in muddy swamps. full of
treacherous places. If his big hind legs
became trapped in the ooZe that was
the end of him. He had to stay there
and starve to death. When he felt his
hind part sinking too much. something
had to be done about 1t quickly, or dip
lodocos was a gone dinosaur. He didn't