Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week

Last time, I asked if anyone has dorsal-view photos of the cervical vertebrae of Diplodocus. No responses yet, and I do urge you to chip in if you have any ideas. But here’s something to keep us positive: Apatosaurus cervicals!

This is Plate 1 from Upchurch et al.’s (2005) excellent descriptive monograph of a specimen of Apatosaurus ajax, NSMT-PV 20375. It shows cervicals 3, 6, 7, 12 and 14, each in left lateral, dorsal and right lateral view; and C14 in ventral view. Click through for the glorious full-resolution version (5183 × 2876).

Here is a close-up of C12 in dorsal view.