Re: Sauropod Tails (The End)

[Jeffrey Martz <martz@holly.ColoState.EDU>]

> Isn't a fullgrown sauropod going to posess what you'd have to call some
> ASTOUNDING muscle power?  Anyway, I think the "whip" thing is begin taken a
> little too literally.  Just a simple smack with one of those tails is going
> to be formidable- and I'll bet they were plenty tough and resilient too. 
> People talk like these caudal vertebrae were little hollow, brittle sticks
> strung together with rubber bands!  Come on.

      The last few vertebrae of a diplodocid's tail were oong, thin, and
probably WERE realtively brittle. We are talking about a series of
individually stiff bony elements, not a totally flexible leather rope
here, with the force applied being greater then a human can muster with
its arm. Was the strength and inflexibility of the last few tail vertebrae
taken into account in the model? 

LN Jeff
O-