Re: Sauropod tails

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

Peter Von Sholly wrote:
> 
> A whip doesn't have to hit you teribbly hard to hurt like hell.  I don't
> think sauropods got where they were by being feeble, and they didn't start
> out big.  Elephants probably use their tusks and intraspecific combat
> mainly because who else will fight with them?  They also use their trunks
> as weapons- my father was literally thrown through the air by a blow from
> an elephant's trunk when he was young.  Sauropod tails still seem like
> something you'd want to watch out for, to me.

Indeed, a whip does not have to break the sound barrier to be effective.
The cat-o-nine tails is a good example. Could sauropod tails have
played a part in mating rituals after all, although in a slightly
kinkier fashion? I seem to remember that it is the barbed penis
of a tomcat that triggers ovulation in the female by causing her
considerable pain when being withdrawn. Could a sound whipping do
something similar to a female sauropod?
        Now who's got too much time on his hands...
-- 
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        Dann Pigdon
        Melbourne, Australia

        Dinosaur Reconstructions:
        http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/4459/
        Australian Dinosaurs:
        http://www.alphalink.com.au/~dannj
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