From: "Simon M. Clabby" <dinowight@yahoo.co.uk> To: simkoning@msn.com Subject: Re: How Did Giant Theropods Break Their Fall? Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2006 12:33:12 +0000 (GMT)
And on the subject, how to ratites cope with a fall? They have no long arms to break a fall, and they go at quite considerable speeds.
--- Sim Koning <simkoning@msn.com> wrote:
> Hello everyone, I'm new here and this is may very > first post. > > The subject that currently interests me the most > is the debate on whether > or not short limbed, large theropods could survive a > fall. The reason this > interests me is due in part to the fact that I'm a > martial arts instructor > and breaking a fall is a big part of what I do. I > know Farlow has stated in > his work that a tyrannosaurus would likely die even > if it fell at a stand > still. I'm no physicist, but the idea that giant > theropods would die so > easily from a fall doesn't make sense when I > consider their life style. > > I know from actual fighting that most fights that > involve any kind of > grappling go to the ground, even when both fighters > are trying to avoid > doing so. When two people grapple, one usually loses > his balance and falls, > often pulling his opponent with him. Now unless ALL > giant predators were > scavengers, one would expect that these animals > would fall quite often in > the process of grappling with their prey. I say > grappling because all > theropods seemed to kill their prey by seizing them > with their jaws and/or > their claws. Giganotosaurus was larger than T-rex > and tackled even larger > prey. Giganotosaurus, even with its slashing teeth, > would had to of locked > its jaws into the flesh of its prey at least > momentarily before tearing off > a large chunk of skin and muscle. A sudden turn, or > even a forceful bump > from a 50-100 ton titanosaur could have knocked the > giant beast to the > ground. Since this is how giant theropods got their > food, one would expect > that they could survive a fall. > > So, how did giant theropods prevent injury while > falling? My guess is that > they didn't, every fall probably resulted in broken > or fractured ribs, but I > don't think it would always be life threatening. > They find broken and healed > bones on theropods all the time, is it possible that > many of these were from > falls? My question is how did they prevent serious > injury or death? You > might be surprised to know that extending your arms > to break a fall is one > of the easiest ways to break your arm and least > effective way to break a > fall. While falling backwards or to the side, > martial artists do not extend > their arms at all, instead they relax their bodies > and spread the impact > over a wide area, often by slapping the arms against > the ground at the same > time the body makes contact. The only time the arms > are used to break a > fall is while falling forward. While doing a front > breakfall, the arms are > bent, not extended and the arms are used like a > springboard. In every > breakfall that martial artists use, the head is > always elevated away from > the ground during impact, this is to prevent head > injuries. > > The following are my guesses as to how giant > theropods may have responded to > falls from different angles. > > Side Fall- This would probably be the most damaging > fall for a theropod > since some of these animals would in effect be > falling 10 feet to the > ground. To minimize injury, I imagine they would > spread the impact over as > wide an area as possible. Most of the shock would > probably be taken by the > thigh and body, followed by the tail. The neck would > likely be bent away > from the ground, with the head elevated as much as > possible to prevent it > from slamming into the earth. The animal would > probably instinctively expel > the air from its lungs at the moment of impact to > reduce the shock and avoid > internal injury. > > Front Fall- I doubt this type of fall would cause > any major injury since the > animal is already in a horizontal position, with the > pubic boot at most > being 5 to 6 feet away from the ground. I imagine > that if a T-rex stumbled > while walking it would bend its knees while trying > to regain balance, which > would lower the pubic foot, knees and stomach even > closer to the ground > before impact, possibly only falling a few feet in > the process. I think > people forget that a t-rex is already horizontal and > would not fall like a > top heavy, upright human. I've always imagined that > tyrannosaurs would land > on their pubic foot and knees when falling, once > again with the neck and > head elevated away from the ground. > > Falling While Running- If a giant theropod fell > while running, I imagine it > would instinctively try to lower its body as much as > possible to the ground > before making impact. The body would probably be > kept level, so that when it > hit, it would effectively skid across the ground. > Contrary to what people > think, if you fall right while running, you are less > likely to be hurt than > if you jumped straight into the air and landed on > your back. The problem is > that if there is a lot of friction, a tyrannosaur > would likely roll head > over tail, which I imagine could result in a broken > neck. Humans, cats, dogs > and many other animals avoid this by curling the > neck and back to roll > across the ground. Rolling can make a fall, even at > high speeds, completely > painless. Now I have no idea whether a T-rex or > Giganotosaurus was flexible > enough to curl its neck and back in such a fashion, > maybe one of you know? > > those are my thoughts. If you think my ideas are > rather silly feel free to > let me know =) > > Sim Koning > > _________________________________________________________________ > Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! > Download today - it's FREE! > http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/ > >
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