Every once in a while, scientists conduct a study to find out why. It can be enjoyable.
A team of paleontologists and engineers have created a simulation of a long-necked sauropod's tail to see if they could whip their appendages faster than sound.
The tails of the dinosaurs could have a bullwhip-like structure. Dinosaurs might have used their tails to defend themselves if that was true.
Other paleontologists were not sure.
There are many theories as to why diplodocid dinosaurs have long tails.
They could be used for defense. The diplodocids might have used their tails to make noise, counterbalance their long neck, or as a third leg to support them.
Some of the longest creatures to have ever walked the Earth are members of the diplodocid family.
The researchers from NOVA University near Lisbon, Portugal, pieced together what was known from five fossils of the diplodocid dinosaur.
The material properties of soft tissues were added to their models. Humans have less from top to tailbone.
The sauropod tails have only skin impressions and bones in the fossil record, so the internal soft tissue is still unknown.
The tail's soft tissue makeup was inferred by the team of people. The mechanical strain that these soft tissues could endure as the tail whipped back and forth was modeled by them.
The appendage that was attached to the hip bone base weighed in at 3,189 pounds and was 40 feet long.
The sound is strong, but only to a point. When skin is put under high strain, it becomes almost completely brittle, according to the paper.
The sound barrier was not broken by the simulation because of the tail muscles and vertebrae. It would have snapped if that had happened.
The tail was 10 times slower than the sound and not fast enough to create a supersonic boom.
A thin, whip-like tail couldn't endure the stress of moving at the speed of sound without the tail breaking, even if it was made of three segments made of skin and flesh.
The estimate of soft tissue resistance would not support the supersonic movement of dinosaur tails even if the hip increased the movement of the tail.
There is a chance that diplodocids may have used their tails to land defensive blows.
The force of impact of the tail tip travelling at speeds of around 30 meters per second is equivalent to the force applied by a golf ball.
That's got to hurt.
It would not be possible to break bones or lacerate skins, but it would deliver a sensible blow.
The research was published in a peer-reviewed journal.
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