Why Sauropod's Nostrils Aren't So Obvious

Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus, Argentinosaurus and many other sauropods are often depicted with nostrils high on their foreheads. It makes sense to assume this nostril position when looking at sauropod skulls, since their nasal openings are located on top of their skulls.
But, having nostrils on the forehead offers no anatomical purpose to sauropods. A closer analysis into dinosaur skulls has figured out that despite the position of their nasal openings, sauropods, like every other dinosaur, had nostrils on their snouts.
References:
[1] www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
[2] web.archive.org/web/201309060...
[3] markwitton-com.blogspot.com/20...
Public Domain Images (via Wikimedia Commons)
1. (Outdated restoration of Dipolodocus at SUMPHG) Motekov, CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
2. (Diplodocus cknight) Charles R. Knight, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
3. (Strange Creatures of the Past - The Amphibious Dinosaur) Charles R. Knight, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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[@paleoph6168]

0:15 Aren't these supposed to be Brachiosaurus? And the art was made by Zdenek Burian btw.

[@FactorTrace]

They are apparently Brachiosaurus by Zdenek Burian, thanks for the correction! I didn't find more information about the painting other than the ones provided in the Wikimedia page (where I sourced the image).

[@karenboy1005]

It's a good day when Factor Trace uploads.

[@FactorTrace]

Thanks, that's very nice to hear! :D

[@burksaurus9410]

I have seen several reconstructions of sauropods online having nostrils on their foreheads because of their openings. But I like that they have nostrils on their faces along with air sacs to communicate.

[@ballseater2266]

the editing in this video is beautiful just like every other video

[@FactorTrace]

Thank you!

[@TheBelite]

Babe wake up, Factor Trace uploaded a new video

[@YancoxD]

This channel is criminally underrated

[@FirstnameLastname-bv8ke]

Amazing work, I love how professional and informative your videos are.

[@FactorTrace]

Thank you very much! I'm trying to focus more on quality than quantity

[@FirstnameLastname-bv8ke]

@@FactorTrace Completely understandable. It's what makes your content stand out. Just make sure you do whatever suits you.

[@PaleoEntertainment]

This has got to be the quickest I've hit a subscribe button in my life. The information, clear and concise language, and incredibly executed graphic design and animation is so easy to understand and follow! Did you draw all of the illustrations yourself? If so then that's incredible! As a paleoartist, it helps to know the reasoning behind new reconstructions besides "Well everyone else is doing it so I guess I should too." Also what do you use to edit? I'd guess After Effects but I could be wrong.

[@FactorTrace]

Thank you! I appreciate it. Yes, apart from the vintage dinosaur paintings, I made all the illustrations for the video myself. And you're absolutely right, I use After Effects to animate (and Illustrator and Photoshop to make the graphic elements).

[@parkerredeker5216]

I remember in the early 2,000s watching the original version of King Kong and seeing the sauropods being depicted as aquatic dinosaurs. They were constructed, scientifically speaking, so badly that I remember thinking to myself "Oh look! They added the lock ness monster to King Kong!" This nostril rediscovery really helps explain why the film makers had initially put the sauropods underwater. Thanks for another great video!

[@FactorTrace]

Yeah, dinosaur depictions in movies actually plays a very important rule in shaping the general public's view about them. The aquatic sauropods never actually held on after the mid 20th century within the paleo community, but modern cinema still sometimes get that wrong.

[@jackafton1580]

i can't describe how much i love these videos

[@FactorTrace]

Thanks! Glad you love them!

[@bubbaboii7626]

Well edited and informative, as always. Just amazing. It's so pleasant to watch!

[@FactorTrace]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Knaubloch]

Very beautiful video optics btw.

[@FactorTrace]

Glad you like them!

[@neyaru744]

The animations are so good keep the good work!

[@FactorTrace]

Thanks! Sure will

[@rohanford8066]

i'd like to think that all that space would allow for a bigger nasal passage, in turn allowing for more efficient and easier breathing, definitely a necessity for something so large

[@FactorTrace]

Yeah, and if the fleshy nostril were located caudally, then the nasal passage would house a lot of narial apparatuses, which I'd argue would also improve their sense of smell.

[@orionmclaughlin5680]

I like to imagine Sauropods like brachiosaurus having inflatable air sacs above their nose, which is why the nasal opening is larger.

[@salsasaurus]

Your videos are gold. Beautiful to watch and innovative.

[@binoodle511]

This is amazing! Why has it got such little views? This is so well made, you've earned a subscriber

[@FactorTrace]

Thanks for subscribing!

[@syhont]

Amazing video, thanks for the clarification

[@FactorTrace]

Thanks, and you're welcome!

[@TechEyeAndroid]

Your videos are Nat Geo level, I would say even better. Wish you success 😇

[@peterjones819]

You should do a video on what is the biggest sauropod dinosaur.

[@FactorTrace]

Yeah, that's that will make an interesting video, I do plan to cover that topic in the future!

[@jbarrera7779]

I loved the video!!!! Do you have any videos on Brachiosaurus v. Giraffatitan by any chance?

[@gizzygamer8820]

Discovered you through the dodo video, and got blown away by the quality of your content. Keep it up man, you’ll be famous one day!

[@FactorTrace]

Thank you! I appreciate it

[@iamarizonaball2642]

@@FactorTrace god I love the dodo. That cute lil birb is adorable. Say, when is the Arizonan extinct species episode coming out?

[@Tyrannosaurus_rex.]

4:06 the Brachiosaurus and Giraffatitan skulls are swapped.

[@niranjansrinivasan4042]

I hope you get more subs

[@FactorTrace]

Thanks!

[@calebthomas1453]

I really hope you do something like whether dinosaurs had lips, cheeks, beaks, scales, filaments or laking of. We need to keep this magna opus of a channal alive!

[@FactorTrace]

Thanks for the suggestion, dinosaur soft tissue is a really interesting topic! And thanks, I'm still working on more videos!

[@iamarizonaball2642]

@@FactorTrace I wonder what deep fried dodo would taste like.

[@marth6270]

I loved the music in the first video, if you get other amazing sounds u will get more views

[@FactorTrace]

Thanks! Now I'm using Epidemic sounds as my music library, I hope the music in my recent videos are just as good.

[@4li-g8r28]

I think the massive holes in the head were possibly used as air sacs that could inflate.

[@bluetannery1527]

You sound pissed off in this one. like, "god, can't believe i have to fucking say this," hahahahaha

[@FactorTrace]

I wasn't pissed, more annoyed like, "this has to be addressed because they keep getting it wrong in pop culture" 😂

[@krantidasud1385]

Jus forget making the dino vides and make some videos on mammals Birds and other prehistoric animals okay please 🥺

[@FactorTrace]

Hi! Yeah, I'm currently working on a video about the thylacine/Tasmanian tiger, and more videos of extinct animals from the Holocene Extinction series will follow soon.

[@NilasJunkyard]

Makes me think of the soft tissue on the heads of beluga whales.

[@R.M.A.2006]

I hope to create an Arabic dub because I love your channel and I hope you will put an Arabic dub

[@TheMightyN]

Regardless, I certainly don't think we should morphologically project a Sauropod's nostril position to that of most animals today; the later members were unique and to themselves alone.

[@FactorTrace]

Comparing extant animals to extinct ones is half of how we do paleontology actually, the other half is analyzing discovered remains. The forehead nostril position is the remnants of incorrect old dinosaur reconstructions

[@TheMightyN]

@@FactorTrace Certainly not. There are some terrestrial animals with nostril openings positioned closer to the eyes. Let's not assume all Sauropods weren't the same either. Based on noses work, it's seems plausible enough the nostrils were positioned at the front of their cavity as suggested with reconstructions of Camarasaurus.

[@laseriedeladilophosaure9246]

Je ne suis pas très sur que les dinosaures Sauropode pouvaient respirer les feuilles des arbres comme les mammifères herbivores je crois qu’on devrait vérifier avec les tortue

[@bestuan]

2:06 the difference is that giraffes and paraceratherium have well developed lips that can prevent debris from entering, also brachiosaurus most likely fed on conifers with small needle shaped leaves, so they could be a hazard, while modern day giraffes feed on broadleaf trees, also a sauropod's way of feeding is shearing leaves off with its teeth which produces way more debris than a giraffe licking the leaves off a branch just my point of view by the way

[@FactorTrace]

That's a good argument bestuan. However, I still don't think it justifies the nostril placement on the forehead enough. I think sauropods also had lips that would have contained the debris inside the mouth as they were eating.

[@iamarizonaball2642]

So, when is the Arizona esc video coming out? Any rough estimate?

[@FactorTrace]

I haven't actually planned on making any yet, but when I do I'll make sure to let you know.

[@iamarizonaball2642]

Thanks. Hopefully no more species go extinct during the time inbetween this comment being posted and your next video!

[@iamarizonaball2642]

Back. Just a reminder to well, remind me.

[@iamarizonaball2642]

@@FactorTrace I hope you are doing well!

[@iamarizonaball2642]

Yet another reminder. I hope it’s going well!

[@davepegington9066]

Sauropods. Didn't exist as far as I'm concerned. Btw. I'm not saying all dinosaurs just saurpods An elephant eats 150 kg per day and spends 18 hours eating per day An Argentinosaurus needs 850 kg per day So please explain how many hours it would need to be eating per day? Because upscaling it would seem like 100 hours eating per 24 hours period So what am I missing? Did vegetation back then contain 10 times as much nutrition? Please explain. Because based on what I know about elephants. Saurpods seem impossible. Biologically. I have not found an explanation so far🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️😊

[@tyrannotherium7873]

Regardless, though nostrils are not sauropods, are still awesome animals

[@Knaubloch]

What do we learn from that? (Well most people do not learn anything from anything...) Science means questioning and not obeying to experts. They have no clue most of the time and it takes decades of stressful criticism for better ideas to push through. Most of the time it's one or few people who are right. But people will follow the crowd anyways, so...