Re: BBC THEROPOD PROGRAMME

[TomHopp@aol.com]

chris lavers wrote:
<< Whenever I see such large, horizontal-backed, big theropod animations, I 
can't avoid the thought that they would have toppled forward onto their 
muzzles.>>

I'm no expert on this, but I have noticed fairly frequent mention on this 
list of "pneumaticity" and "pneumatic foramina" among theropods. If you start 
with a chest cavity filled mostly with air (lungs) and add vertebrae, ribs 
and skull shot through with air-spaces, then what looks outwardly like a 
solid mass becomes something easily balanced by the tail (experts correct me 
if I'm off-base here -- I'm sure you will).

Thomas P. Hopp
Author of DINOSAUR WARS, a science fiction novel published by iUniverse
Now Humans are the Endangered Species!  http://members.aol.com/dinosaurwars