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RE: Bruhathkayosaurus matleyi?




> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-DINOSAUR@usc.edu [mailto:owner-DINOSAUR@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> Rahul Daryanani
> Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2006 10:27 AM
> To: dinosaur@usc.edu
> Subject: Bruhathkayosaurus matleyi?
>
>
> How probable are the weight estimates for Bruhathkayosaurus? The old ones
> (175-220 tons), and the new ones (157 tons), both seem a tad heavy for a
> land animal. The lower one puts it in the range of the heaviest Blue Whale
> (160-180 tons), and the higher one far exceeds it. In my humble opinion, a
> land animal would be completely unable to support such a weight. A creature
> like this would be unbale to survive beyond childhood. How true is this?
>
I don't know: how massive are trees?

Seriously, the hypothesis that this is no more than petrified wood has not been 
falsified yet to my satisfaction. A detailed
photograph, and even better a micrograph, would go a long way towards 
demonstrating that this was something closer to
_Argentinosaurus_ than to _Araucaria_.

                Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
        Senior Lecturer, Vertebrate Paleontology
Department of Geology           Director, Earth, Life & Time Program
University of Maryland          College Park Scholars
        Mailing Address:
                Building 237, Room 1117
                College Park, MD  20742

http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~jmerck/eltsite
Phone:  301-405-4084    Email:  tholtz@geol.umd.edu
Fax (Geol):  301-314-9661       Fax (CPS-ELT): 301-405-0796