Re: sauropods

["Cunningham, Betty" <bcunning@nssi.com>]

     From: Stang1996@aol.com
     > Why?  If one now accepts that smaller Diplodocoideans could
     > rear, what stops the larger ones from doing the same since they were 
     > functionally nearly identicle?
     
     =Oh, most species probably could, when necessary, they just had less 
     =reason to do so.
     
     =As to functionally identical, I think Brachiosaurus was rather 
     =different.  Its heavy *fore*quarters and short tail would have made 
     =rearing up *much* more difficult than in other types of saurpopds.
     
     OK, OK, OK...
     so a bunch of sauropods of different sizes and ages are wandering 
     around in a conifer forest.  One of the big ones goes up to a redwood 
     AND WALKS ITSELF UP THE SIDE TO A REARING POSITION, and then the tree 
     falls over.  Sequoias have nortoriously shallow root systems.  Sequoia 
     californica(George?), the coastal one is always falling on roads in 
     the winter during high winds.  Wouldn't a multi-ton animal leaning 
     heavily on the base of one of those things knock it over?  Then all 
     the shorter and younger saurapods scramble up to the end they can now 
     reach while the tall one goes back to browsing what it can reach 
     without knocking trees over.
     
     -Betty Cunningham
     (I've been off line while the net at work has been down)