Re: Meat eating sauropods

[jshields@iol.ie (James Shields)]

>   There was a mention on either s.b.p or the dino-list about a Bakkerian
>claim of sauropods grabbing theropods with their mouths and tossing them
>around.  It was only an off-hand comment, no real detail, but it piqued my
>interest.

This seems unlikely to me for one simple reason: leverage.

To demonstrate, get a metre stick. At one end, attach a heavy weight. Place
a pivot about four inches from the other. Now try manipulating it from the
end near the pivot. The lever has the effect of multiplying the effective
weight of the object (its a few years since I've studied applied maths, but
you get the idea).

The same was (probably) true for sauropods. They had incredible neck
muscles, but they would have been needed just to lift the neck and head. Why
do you think they has such small heads?

Nice idea, though. The image of a (rubber-necked) Brachiosaurus tossing an
Allosaurus over its back (monty-python style) springs to mind.

James Shields/jshields@iol.ie
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