Re: The death throes of drowning

[cnedin@geology.adelaide.edu.au (Chris Nedin)]

Jeff Poling wrote:

>   Does anybody know if there's any research that shows that animals that
>drown end up in the contorted death pose (ie neck and tail bent over the
>back) that some dinosaurs are found in?

That pose is cause by post-mortem shrinkage of the muscles and tendons of
the neck, usually by dessication (drying out) or by an osmotic reaction to
hypersaline water. It isn't caused by drowning since the end result of
drowning is the relaxation of the muscles.

Chris

cnedin@geology.adelaide.edu.au                  nedin@ediacara.org
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Many say it was a mistake to come down from the trees, some say
the move out of the oceans was a bad idea. Me, I say the stiffening
of the notochord in the Cambrian was where it all went wrong,
it was all downhill from there.