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Rigid dinosaurs?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4723150.stm
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Dr Horner and colleagues carried out microscopic analysis of the dinosaur's
vertebrae. They found tissue remnants related to the animal's nuchal
ligament, which provides passive support for the head and neck.
Since the amount found in the vertebrae is proportional to how stiff the
ligament would have been, the researchers determined it would have been very
rigid in their T. rex.
"We think this applied to all dinosaurs, certainly all saurischians - all
the meat-eating dinosaurs and all the sauropods," Dr Horner said.
"I think we need to re-model dinosaurs and think of them as being very
rigid. They're just not as fluid as we thought."
---
They would have needed lots of space to turn in order to avoid falling over,
he added.
--They sound like my son's plastic dino figurines.
--This sounds like a lot of extrapolation based on a small number of data
points.
--My gut reaction is that rigidity isn't very adaptive. It's hard to
imagine millions of predators tottering around in straight lines for tens of
millions of years...
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu] On Behalf Of
pablochi@fullzero.com.ar
Sent: Friday, February 17, 2006 8:22 AM
To: dinosaur@usc.edu
Subject: Thanks
Thanks very much to all that send me the papers.
Pablo
Pablo Chiarelli
Curador y Técnico Preparador
Fundación de Historia Natural Félix de Azara.
Departamento de Ciencias Naturales y Antropología.
CEBBAD - Universidad Maimónides.
Valentín Virasoro 732 (C1405BDB) Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, República
Argentina. Teléfono/fax: 4905-1100 (int. 1228).
Página web: www.fundacionazara.org.ar
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