Re: Amargasaurus

[Dinochandler@aol.com]

In a message dated 11/29/99 3:48:46 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
dbensen@gotnet.net writes:

<< Does anyone know what sort of habitat Amargasaurus lived in?  My immediate 
reaction
 to EK Argentina is coastal plains but is that assumption at all correct?
 
 Also, I know that there are two interpretations of Amargasaurus's neural 
spines:
 spines that are connected into a sail and discrete spines like a porcupine 
or a
 stegosaur.  Which is correct or is there no way to tell?  Sorry if I'm 
bringing up
 an old subject. >>
I'm not sure about early K Argentina but what about the neural spines 
supporting a 'humplike' structure rather than a sail or 'spines?'   Bison 
have neural projections similar to that of _Ouranosaurus_ and _Spinosaurus_ 
and they have humps, not sails.  There also seems to be a connection between 
dinos with neural spines and climate--most are from desert climates--I don't 
know if _Amargasaurus cazaui_ would be an exception here or not...but a hump 
for large desert animals could help store fat and other nutrients for long 
periods of time, like camels.  The neural spines on _A._ do seem less robust 
than that of  _O._ and _S._ so maybe they did support some kind of "sail" and 
not a hump, maybe for decorative or protective purposes.

Chandler