Living it large

摘要

Dinosaur halls are the petrified trophy rooms of natural-history museums. But The World's Largest Dinosaurs -an exhibition curated by Mark Norell of the American Museum of Natural History and Martin Sander of Germany's University of Bonn - is not a classic gallery of old bones. The exhibition reconstructs the lives of Apatosaurus, Brachiosaurus and other sauropods by showcasing recent research into their biology. Instead of ranks of enormous skeletons, visitors are greeted with the restored head and neck of Argentinosaurus (the full 30-metre body would be too big) and an 18-metre Mamenchisaurus mock-up, which stands in a pathway of interactive displays. Walk along the left flank of the Mamenchisaurus and you will see its ribs expand and contract as it breathes. Linger a little longer and its flesh peels back to reveal and explain the creatures internal anatomy. Casts and fragments of other sauropods illustrate how these dinosaurs coped with being so large. How could giants such as Diplodocus, for exam- ple, eat enough food given their tiny skulls and small, peg-like teeth? The displays show that, in fact, their heads were well-suited to living large. Sauropods bolted down vast quantities of food without chewing, and their long necks allowed them to sample wide swathes of greenery while standing still.