Giant Dinosaurs

The sauropods were the largest animals that ever lived. Modern-day heavyweights are barely any match for these prehistoric giants. These dinosaurs continue to pose unanswered questions: How did the largest ever land-dwelling beings get to be that size? Using their fossilised bones, researchers are attempting to unlock the secret to the dinosaur’s incredible size.

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Giant Dinosaurs: Episode 04, 06/05/2008

Thin Sections

Two-component silicone rubber, green synthetic resin, epoxy resin, powder and water. These are the ingredients that Katja Waskow and Martin Sander will use to find out why the sauropods grew so large. In the lab they cut, glue and polish thin sections of the fossils. Will they be able to see any growth lines? And how much information will the growth lines, which are only visible on the surface, provide?

At a glance

University: University of Bonn

Field of Research: Chemistry, Geosciences, Materials Science, Paleontology, Physics, Physiology, Zoology

Location: Bonn, Mallorca / Spain, South Africa

Episodes: 12

Season/Year: 1. Season/ 2008

Status: Finished

Topics: slice of dinosaur leg, eggs, rare specimen, growth rings, rubber

15.04.2008

Dinosaurs on Mallorca?

This isn’t a rock. In fact it’s a fossil, found by a couple on holiday that led Martin Sander and his research team to Mallorca in search of more evidence. Will the researchers find more fossils here?

22.04.2008

A Dinosaur Takes a Bath

The enormous size of dinosaurs is hard to overlook and easy to measure. But how much did they weigh? To determine their body mass, Katja Waskow and Martin Sander immerse a model of a dinosaur in water and perform some complicated calculations...

29.04.2008

A Brachiosaurus in 3D

Standing some 12 metres tall, the Brachiosaurus was the largest land animal ever to have lived. To find out how much these enormous creatures weighed, scientists use state-of-the-art laser technology. Engineer Stefan Stoinski uses a laser to scan this dinosaur...

06.05.2008

Thin Sections

13.05.2008

The Bellows Method

Some sauropods grew to be as heavy as 40 tons, putting quite a strain on their lungs. To be able to keep the dinosaurs going their respiratory system must have been extremely efficient.

20.05.2008

A Dinosaur’s Diet

Were they always hungry? To maintain its weight, a 40-ton dinosaur would have needed to devour 14 gigantic bales of horsetail and Ginkgo leaves each day.

27.05.2008

Digestion Problems

A dinosaur could stomach a lot , but how did its digestive system work? Some researchers suspect that their digestion worked somewhat like that of an ostrich. Are they right?

03.06.2008

A Leg of Bone as an Environmental Record

Palaeontologist Martin Sander wants to find out about the gigantic dinosaur’s food, metabolism and body temperature, so he sends a slice of leg to the lab for geochemical analysis...

10.06.2008

New Finds – New Findings

The palaeontologists have come to South Africa in search of fossils to help them solve the evolutionary mystery of the giant dinosaurs. And indeed they find some, dating back some 175 to 230 million years....

17.06.2008

Leg Bones Made of "Super Material"?

Martin Sander’s theory is that either the dinosaurs’ skeletons were especially light, or the leg bones were exceptionally strong. This question has brought him to the Max Planck Institute for Iron Research....

24.06.2008

A Dinosaur on its Hind Legs?

Was Steven Spielberg right? In the film Jurassic Park a Brachiosaurus stands up on its hind legs. Palaeontologists Martin Sander and Heinrich Mallison investigate the dinosaur film star....

01.07.2008

The Solution to the Mystery

What information can be gleaned from fossils that are 200 million years old? The palaeontologists present their research findings at a conference in Bonn. Have they solved the mystery of gigantism?

Field of Research