Re: shifting the tail

["Richard Hengst" <rhengst@163.245.1.5>]

In message <009969F1.C870C980.20@qcvaxa.acc.qc.edu>  writes:
> for those  of you having a hard time visualizing this idea, try this.
> go to your local swimming pool.  float in a horizontal position.

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> Bonnie Blackwell,                             bonn@qcvaxa.acc.qc.edu

I have observed one of my alligators rear up and stand on its hind legs while 
watching me.  I have seen this repeatedly.  It does so by placing its front 
left leg on a rock in the tub, lift itself and then raise completely to finish 
the motion.  It will stand and watch me for anywhere from a few seconds to 
several minutes without lowering itself to touch the block.  this alligator is 
much more elongate with smaller tail proportions (the animal in question is 
about 1 meter long) than a sauropod and certainly lacks the hip structure.   As 
I see it, rearing motions must have been easier for sauropods than for gators 
and may have involved the mechanisms discussed in this thread or may well have 
been something as simple as placing one leg against a tree trunk and pressing 
itself up - like the bill the alligator.



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Rich Hengst                         |                                        |
Biological Sciences Dept.           |                                        |
Purdue Univ. North Central          |                                        |
Westville, IN  46391                |                                        |  
(219) 785-5251                      |                                        |
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rhengst@centaur.cc.purduenc.edu     |                                        |
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