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> Date sent: Thu, 13 Feb 1997 12:44:30 -0800
> From: BCunningham <Bettyc@flyinggoat.com>
> Send reply to: Bettyc@flyinggoat.com
> To: "M.A.Whyte" <M.A.Whyte@sheffield.ac.uk>
> Subject: Re: swimming Ceratosaurus
> M.A.Whyte wrote:
> >
> > Re the above it may interest you to know that Mike Romano and I have
> > published a picture of what we think are the tracks made by a
> > swimming dinosaur in 'Geology Today' volume 12(2), March/April 1996,
> > p75-79. We are also hoping to submit a fuller description of these
> > trace fossils for publication soon.
> > The tracks are made by the feet hitting the bottom as the animal was
> > swimming along. There are only the tracks of the hind feet so the
> > animal was probably a biped (though not of course necessarily a
> > therapod). The arrangement of the foot prints suggests that
> > the animal was swimming with an asymmetrical 'galloping' gait which
> > would have involved using all four limbs. It is interesting that an
> > animal which most probably moved bipedally when running or moving
> > quickly has still retained the coordination of a fast quadrupedal
> > gait (our lineage has probably been bipedal for a much shorter time
> > than this middle Jurassic dinosaur's lineage but I cannot coordinate
> > my limbs in a gallop even in the water). There is no evidence that
> > the tail was being used in propulsion though it could have served as
> > a rudder.
> >
> > Hope this is of interest.
>
>
> you might want to post this to the group. I know Bonni is interested,
> there are probably others. Please?
>
> -Betty
I wrote off list because I hadn't seen the origin of the thread and
wasn't quite sure where your comment had come from. I did mention
these tracks on the list a couple of years ago but if you think they
will be of general interest by all means forward the message to the
list or to individuals.
Martin Whyte
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