"I have been developing a sequence of early mammal faunas from the Cretaceous of the southwest U.S. These assemblages document a long and poorly understood interval in mammalian history, during which they were relatively small, rare taxa living in the interstices of a world dominated by dinosaurs." (Cifelli, Cifelli) Most of Dr. Cifelli's research programs are field-based with activities being conducted in Utah, Texas, Columbia, and Argentina. Dr. Richard Cifelli has earned many degrees including a PhD in 1983 at Columbia University and an M.Phil. in 1980 at Columbia University (Cifelli, Cifelli). Matt Wedel was also a leader in the discovery of the Sauroposeidon. He was born in 1975 and was a graduate student from the University of Oklahoma. He was such an instrumental player in this discovery because he was writing his thesis about Sauropods (Dino Land). .
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The Sauroposeidon is a close relative of the Brachiosaurus and is in the Sauropod family (Wedel and Cifelli 109). According to Cifelli, this new creature stood about 60 feet tall and weighed 60 tons. It also has the longest neck in the fossil record (Largest Dinosaur Roamed Oklahoma). Each vertebrae in its neck is up to 4 feet long and has air cells which made the neck lighter and easier to lift (Possible Largest Dinosaur Found in Oklahoma). Most dinosaurs of the Sauropod family ate conifers, which was the most widely eaten plant during that time. They also ate other plants such as ferns, club mosses, horsetails, and cycads. Although dinosaurs of this family had different diets, they ultimately consist of the same types of vegetation (Zoom Dinosaur). .
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Sauropods were at one time thought to have had a brain in their skull as well as their tails (Prehistoric Plantet). Although controversial, it is now thought that is was merely an enlargement of the spinal cord in the hip area that contained nerves that probably controlled the back legs.