▁three ▁individuals . ▁The ▁spec im ens ▁exhib it ▁features ▁that ▁distinguish ▁A pat osa urus ▁from ▁its ▁relatives , ▁and ▁thus ▁likely ▁belong ▁to ▁the ▁genus . ▁Ju ven ile ▁sau rop ods ▁tend ▁to ▁have ▁proportion ally ▁shorter ▁ne cks ▁and ▁t ails , ▁and ▁a ▁more ▁pron ounced ▁for el imb - hind lim b ▁dispar ity ▁than ▁found ▁in ▁adult ▁sau rop ods . ▁ ▁T ail ▁An ▁article ▁published ▁in ▁ 1 9 9 7 ▁reported ▁research ▁of ▁the ▁mechan ics ▁of ▁A pat osa urus ▁t ails ▁by ▁Nathan ▁My hr v old ▁and ▁pale ont ologist ▁Philip ▁J . ▁C urr ie . ▁My hr v old ▁carried ▁out ▁a ▁computer ▁simulation ▁of ▁the ▁tail , ▁which ▁in ▁di pl od oc ids ▁like ▁A pat osa urus ▁was ▁a ▁very ▁long , ▁tap ering ▁structure ▁res emb ling ▁a ▁b ull wh ip . ▁This ▁computer ▁model ing ▁suggested ▁di pl od oc ids ▁were ▁capable ▁of ▁producing ▁a ▁wh ip like ▁crack ing ▁sound ▁of ▁over ▁ 2 0 0 ▁de ci b els , ▁compar able ▁to ▁the ▁volume ▁of ▁a ▁can non ▁being ▁fired . ▁ ▁A ▁path ology ▁has ▁been ▁identified ▁on ▁the ▁tail ▁of ▁A pat osa urus , ▁caused ▁by ▁a ▁growth ▁defect . ▁Two ▁ca ud al ▁verte bra e ▁are ▁se am lessly ▁f used ▁along ▁the ▁entire ▁art icul ating ▁surface ▁of ▁the ▁b one , ▁including ▁the ▁arch es ▁of ▁the ▁neural ▁sp ines .