Editing Supersaurus (section)

==Description==
[[File:Longest dinosaurs2.svg|thumb|Diagram showing the size of ''Supersaurus'' (orange) compared with selected giant sauropods]]
''Supersaurus'' is among the [[Dinosaur size|largest dinosaurs]] known from good remains and quite possibly the longest discovered thus far, with the [[Wyoming Dinosaur Center|WDC]] specimen reaching {{convert|33|-|36|m|sp=us}} in length, the [[Brigham Young University|BYU]] specimen reaching perhaps {{convert|39|m|sp=us}} and a third specimen potentially exceeding {{convert|40|m|sp=us}} in size.<ref name=":0"/><ref name ="Woodruff et al. 2024"/> The [[Wyoming Dinosaur Center|WDC]] and [[Brigham Young University|BYU]] specimens are estimated to have weighed {{convert|35|-|44|MT|ST}} in body mass.<ref name ="Woodruff et al. 2024"/><ref name=LHW07>{{cite journal |last=Lovelace |first=David M. |author2=Hartman, Scott A. |author3= Wahl, William R. |year=2008 |title=Morphology of a specimen of ''Supersaurus'' (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Morrison Formation of Wyoming, and a re-evaluation of diplodocid phylogeny |journal=Arquivos do Museu Nacional |volume=65 |issue=4 |pages=527–544|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237468705|issn=0365-4508}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Paul |first=Gregory S. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/985402380 |title=The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-78684-190-2 |pages=214 |oclc=985402380 |author-link=Gregory S. Paul}}</ref> 
[[File:Supersaurus dinosaur.png|thumb|left|Life restoration of ''Supersaurus'' based primarily on [[Wyoming Dinosaur Center]]'s more complete "Jimbo"]] 
A study in 2024 also found the Jimbo specimen to be skeletally mature at the time of its death and among the oldest known dinosaurs. While the result obtained was 225 years, the study strongly states that a value this high is extremely unlikely and more reflects the limitations of the methodology in calculating the age of exceptionally old individuals.<ref name ="Woodruff et al. 2024"/> The same study found the age of a {{convert|33|m|sp=us}} ''Diplodocus hallorum'' to be 60 years old, which makes it among the oldest known dinosaurs too, but considered the age of Jimbo to be even greater due to the extensive remodeling of the bone. In fact, the study suggests Jimbo was so old that its exact age cannot be reliably calculated by the applied methodology.<ref name ="Woodruff et al. 2024"/> Thus, despite the lack of a truly reliable age value, the Jimbo specimen of ''Supersaurus'' can be considered as possibly the oldest dinosaur known thus far. The study also suggests that, due to Jimbo's skeletal maturity, the size range displayed by the three known ''Supersaurus'' specimens, which ranges from {{convert|33|-|40|m|sp=us}}, can be considered an average adult size for the species.<ref name ="Woodruff et al. 2024"/>
[[File:Jimbo Supersaurus.jpg|thumb|A reconstruction of WDC DMJ-021, nicknamed "Jimbo", [[Wyoming Dinosaur Center]]]]
The first described specimens of ''Supersaurus'' were individual bones that suggested a large diplodocid. A large [[Cervical vertebrae|cervical vertebra]] BYU 9024 from the same quarry was later assigned to ''Supersaurus''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jensen |first=James A. |author-link=James A. Jensen |date=1987 |title=New Brachiosaur Material from the Late Jurassic of Utah and Colorado |journal=The Great Basin Naturalist |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=592–608 |issn=0017-3614 |jstor=41712373}}</ref><!-- cannot verify 45 m from the cited sources. 45 m is not mentioned in the papers --> This vertebra measures {{cvt|1.38|m|ft}} in length and is the longest cervical known.<ref name=Wedeletal2000a>{{cite journal|last=Wedel|first=Mathew J.|author2=Cifelli, R.L.|author3=Sanders, R.K.|date=March 2000|title=''Sauroposeidon proteles'', a new sauropod from the Early Cretaceous of Oklahoma|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|volume=20|issue=1|pages=109&ndash;114|doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020[0109:SPANSF]2.0.CO;2|s2cid=55987496 |url=http://sauroposeidon.net/Wedel-et-al_2000a_sauroposeidon.pdf|access-date=October 17, 2016|archive-date=October 31, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071031032826/http://sauroposeidon.net/Wedel-et-al_2000a_sauroposeidon.pdf|url-status=usurped}}</ref> This enormous vertebra was reclassified as a ''[[Barosaurus]]'' vertebra, by [[Michael P. Taylor|Mike Taylor]] and [[Matt Wedel]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Taylor|first=Mike|date=2019|title=Supersaurus, Ultrasaurus and Dystylosaurus in 2019, part 2: what we found in Utah|url=https://svpow.com/2019/06/15/supersaurus-ultrasaurus-and-dystylosaurus-in-2019-part-2-what-we-found-in-utah/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921232450/https://svpow.com/2019/06/15/supersaurus-ultrasaurus-and-dystylosaurus-in-2019-part-2-what-we-found-in-utah/|archive-date=September 21, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref> However Brian Curtice has reassigned it to ''Supersaurus'' on the basis of additional specimens.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Curtice |first=Brian |date=2021 |title=New Dry Mesa Dinosaur Quarry Supersaurus vivianae (Jensen 1985) axial elements provide additional insight into its phylogenetic relationships and size, suggesting an animal that exceeded 39 meters in length |url=https://vertpaleo.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/SVP_2021_VirtualBook_final.pdf|page=92|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008180700/https://vertpaleo.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/SVP_2021_VirtualBook_final.pdf|archive-date=October 8, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Michael Benton]] also agreed with the reclassification, giving the ''Supersaurus'' BYU 9024 specimen an approximate length of up to an impressive {{convert|50|m}}, which would have made it the longest animal to ever live.<ref name=DinosaurBehaviour>{{Cite book|last1=Benton|first1=Michael|date=31 October 2023 |title=Dinosaur Behavior: An Illustrated Guide|publisher=Princeton University Press|language=en |isbn=9780691244297|pages=94–95}}</ref>

The assignment of the more complete specimen, WDC DMJ-021, to ''Supersaurus'' suggests that in most respects it was very similar in anatomy to ''[[Apatosaurus]]'' but less robustly built with especially elongated cervical vertebrae, resulting in one of the longest-known sauropod necks.<ref name=LHW07/>