HADROSAUROID NECKS

[Tetanurae@aol.com]

Recently, there has been some discussion on the list about the musculature of
the necks of hadrosauroids.  In particular, much of the talk has revolved
around the reconstructions of Greg Paul showing the deep and superficial
muscles of the neck, going in a straight line fromthe arch of the back to the
back of the head, a sort od Splenialis suspension bridge.

This is really wrong for many reasons, not the least of which is that no
animal, living or dead, has neck musculature that is like that.  Animals with
suspension bridge necks with withers, have withers because their heads are
gigantic, like bison, not small, light headed ornithopods.

Additionally the mummies show that the neck muscles are appressed more or less
with the vertebrae, and not massive sheets that run from the back of the head
to the to the bend of the back.  Some have tried to interpret the neck
wrinkles as by-products of the splenialis going through rigor mortis.

Rigor mortis shortens musces as they dry, but for the short muscles going from
the back to the head to suddenly not look like a suspension bridge, it would
require that they actually got longer in rigor mortis.  This on top of the
fact that the neck is bent back like it is in a rigor mortis pose!!

Peter Buchholz
Tetanurae@aol.com

I am thin and gorgeous