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RE: Precision
Tim Williams writes:
> As an addendum to Mike's response (which was right on the money),
> one extra caveat is that such estimates are based on individual
> specimens. Therefore, when we say...
>
> "Brachiosaurus had an estimated body length of X m and an estimated
> mass of Y tonnes"
>
> what we are really saying is ...
>
> "The largest *known* specimen of Brachiosaurus had an estimated
> body length of X m and an estimated mass of Y tonnes".
True, of course. But since there is (roughly) one specimen of
_Brachiosaurus_ known from sufficient remains, what we are _really_
really saying is "the mass of HMN SII is ..."
> 'Maximum body size' in non-avian dinosaurs has its own set of
> caveats, especially if the work of Sander and Klein (2005) is any
> guide. This study found that maximum body size in _Plateosaurus
> engelhardti_ varied enormously from one individual to the next.
> Some had reached maximum size by age 12, while others were still
> growing at 26-27 years old. The smallest specimen was 4.8 m long
> when fully grown, whereas others attained a body length of around
> 10 m long (and still may not have 'topped out').
Indeed -- this is one of the most important recent studies on dinosaur
size. (Plus it gives us licence to imagine some _seriously_ big
sauropods :-)
_/|_ ___________________________________________________________________
/o ) \/ Mike Taylor <mike@indexdata.com> http://www.miketaylor.org.uk
)_v__/\ "When I changed the useit.com home page to include a search
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Jakob Nielsen.
- References:
- Precision
- From: Mike Taylor <mike@indexdata.com>
- RE: Precision
- From: Tim Williams <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>