Diplodocus (continued)

Diet

Diplodocus has highly unusual teeth compared to other sauropods. The crowns are long and slender, elliptical in cross-section, while the apex forms a blunt triangular point.[30] The most prominent wear facet is on the apex, though unlike all other wear patterns observed within sauropods, Diplodocus wear patterns are on the labial (cheek) side of both the upper and lower teeth.[30] What this means is Diplodocus and other diplodocids had a radically different feeding mechanism than other sauropods. Unilateral branch-stripping is the most likely feeding behaviour of Diplodocus,[31][32][33] as it explains the unusual wear patterns of the teeth (coming from tooth-food contact). In unilateral branch stripping, one tooth row would have been used to strip foliage from the stem, while the other would act as a guide and stabiliser. With the elongated preorbital (in-front of the eyes) region of the skull, longer portions of stems could be stripped in a single action.[30] Also the palinal (backwards) motion of the lower jaws could have contributed two significant roles to feeding behaviour: 1) an increased gape, and 2) allowed fine adjustments of the relative positions of the tooth rows, creating a smooth stripping action.[30]

With a laterally and dorsoventrally flexible neck, and the possibilty of using its tail and rearing up on its hind limbs (tripodal ability), Diplodocus would have had the ability to browse at many levels (low, medium, and high), up to approximately 10 metres (39 ft) from the ground.[34] The neck's range of movement would have also allowed the head to graze below the level of the body, leading some scientists to speculate on whether Diplodocus grazed on submerged water plants, from riverbanks. This concept of the feeding posture is supported by the relative lengths of front and hind limbs. Furthermore, its peglike teeth may have been used for eating soft water plants

Other anatomical aspects


The head of Diplodocus has been widely depicted with the nostrils on top due to the position of the nasal openings at the apex of the skull. There has been speculation over whether such a configuration meant that Diplodocus may have had a trunk.[35] A recent study[36] surmised there was no paleoneuroanatomical evidence for a trunk. It noted that the facial nerve in an animal with a trunk, such as an elephant, is large as it innervates the trunk. The evidence suggests that the facial nerve is very small in Diplodocus. Studies by Lawrence Witmer (2001) indicated that, while the nasal openings were high on the head, the actual, fleshy nostrils were situated much lower down on the snout.[37]

Recent discoveries have suggested that Diplodocus and other diplodocids may have had narrow, pointed keratinous spines lining their back, much like those on an iguana.[38][39] This radically different look has been incorporated into recent reconstructions, notably Walking with Dinosaurs. It is unknown exactly how many diplodocids had this trait, and whether it was present in other sauropods

Diplodocus

Diplodocus (pronounced /ˌdɪploʊˈdoʊkəs/ or /dɪˈplɔdəkəs/) is a genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaur whose fossilised skeleton was first discovered in 1878. The generic name refers to its double-beamed chevron bones (Greek diplos/διπλος meaning 'double' and dokos/δοκος meaning 'wooden beam' or 'bar') located in the underside of the tail.[1] They were initially believed to be unique to Diplodocus; however, they have since then been discovered in other members of the diplodocid family.

It lived in what is now western North America at the end of the Jurassic Period. Diplodocus was one of the more common dinosaurs found in the Upper Morrison Formation, about 150 to 147 million years ago, in what is now termed the Kimmeridgian and Tithonian stages. This was an environment and time dominated by gigantic sauropod dinosaurs such as Camarasaurus, Barosaurus, Apatosaurus and Brachiosaurus.[2]

Diplodocus is among the most easily identifiable dinosaurs, with its classic dinosaur shape, long neck and tail and four sturdy legs. For many years, it was the longest dinosaur known. Its great size may have been a deterrent to the predators Allosaurus and Ceratosaurus: their remains have been found in the same strata, which suggests they coexisted with Diplodocus.

A.C Milan_stadium

The team's current stadium is the 82,955 seater San Siro, officially known as Stadio Giuseppe Meazza after the former player who represented both Milan and Internazionale. The name San Siro comes from the district where it's located. The stadium is shared with Inter, the other major football club in Milan. The stadium is well known for its fantastic atmosphere due to the closeness of the stands to the pitch. Another feature of the stadium is the use of flares by the fans which can sometimes cause trouble.

On 19 December 2005, AC Milan vice-president and executive director Adriano Galliani announced that the team is seriously working to move out from San Siro. He said that Milan's new stadium will be largely based on the Veltins-Arena and following the standards of football stadia in the United States, Germany and Spain. It will likely be a stadium for football purposes only (with no athletics track). The new stadium is supposed to be named after a sponsor. [3] It remains to see if this plan will proceed or if this is just a ploy to force the owners (Comune di Milano) to sell the stadium to Milan for a nominal fee so as to proceed with extensive renovations. Rumours have also surfaced of Inter's intention to also build a new stadium which may also affect this decision.[4]

A.C Milan_Colours and badge

Colours and badge

AC Milan's official colours have been red and black since its foundation. These colours were chosen to represent the fiery ardour that is part of the team members and the opponents' fear to challenge the team. The badge represents the club colours and the flag of the Comune di Milano (Municipality of Milan), with the acronym ACM at the top and the foundation year (1899) at the bottom.

The home jersey is red and black vertical striped, with white shorts and black socks. The away strip has always been completely white. The latter is considered by both the fans and the club as their "lucky" strip in Champions League finals, due to the fact that Milan won seven finals out of nine in an all white strip (losing only to Ajax in 1995 and Liverpool in 2005), while lost both the finals played in their home strip. The third kit changes yearly and is black with red trim for the current season, but it is rarely used. The Goalkeeper kit is either green or yellow shirt, black shorts and black socks.

The Austrian on-line betting company bwin are currently Milan's main jersey sponsors after signing a 4 year deal at the start of the 2006/2007 season. [1] Previous to this deal, the German car manufacturer, Opel had sponsored Milan for 12 seasons. For most of them, Opel was displayed on the front of the jersey, but in the 2003-04 and the 2005-06 seasons respectively, Meriva and Zafira (two cars from their range) were displayed.

The current jerseys are supplied by German sportswear manufacturer Adidas, whose deal runs to the end of the 2007/2008 season. [2] The deal makes Adidas the official manufacturer of all kits, training equipment and replica outfits. Prior to Adidas, the Italian sports company, Lotto produced Milan's sportswear.