Skeleton key to the past
QUESTION display? Where is the largest dinosaur skeleton on
A mounted specimen of Giraffatitan brancai in Berlin’s natural History museum is the tallest fossil skeleton in the world, at 43.5ft tall.
these giants of the late Jurassic period 150 million years ago were around 25ft long and weighed between 20 and 30 tonnes. Giraffatitan, meaning ‘titanic giraffe’, was known as an African species of Brachiosaurus (arm lizard), a genus of the herbivorous sauropod dinosaur.
From 1909, Werner Janensch found many G. brancai specimens in the fossilrich tendaguru Beds in tanzania, then a German colony. He used them to create a composite mounted skeleton.
there is also dippy, a Diplodocus carnegii skeleton, in Pittsburgh’s Carnegie
museum of natural History. It’s a composite, too — the bulk of which was discovered at Sheep Creek Quarry d, near medicine Bow, Wyoming, in 1899.
dippy is 22ft tall, 84ft long and would have weighed between 11 and 16 tonnes. A plaster cast of this dinosaur used to be displayed in the central hall of London’s natural History museum.
Ben Miles, Liverpool.
QUESTION Do fingerprints fade with age?
AS We enter old age, our skin loses elasticity. this may cause fingerprint patterns to become less prominent and spread slightly, as there is a thickening of the ridges and furrows.
our skin also becomes drier, which may affect the surface of the fingertips. However, fingerprints are highly resistant, so age should not affect identification or their use in a biometric scanner.
other factors can cause fingerprint patterns to alter. A permanent scar may make them hard to identify — and three rare genetic conditions result in a lack of fingerprints: naegeliFranceschetti-Jadassohn syndrome (nFJS), dermatopathia Head in the clouds: Giraffatitan brancai dinosaur Picture: ALAMY pigmentosa reticularis (dPR) and adermatoglyphia.
Bricklayers and blacksmiths, whose fingertips are exposed to abrasive or corrosive surfaces or substances, may be at risk of losing fingerprint details over time. the same goes for players of stringed instruments, who develop calluses on their fingertips. If it is allowed to recover, the print will return within a matter of weeks.
Fingerprints may be erased by fire, acid or plastic surgery, but damaged skin has a remarkable ability to regenerate.
In 1934, the notorious bank robber John dillinger was in hiding in Chicago and looking for a way to escape arrest.
Wilhelm Loeser, a German-born physician involved in the drugs trade, attempted to modify dillinger’s prints. He cut away the outer layer of skin, treated the fingertips with hydrochloric acid and scraped
away the remaining ridges. dillinger could not use his hands for days, but his fingertips grew back.
Richard Moore, Tunbridge Wells, Kent.