Re: Prickly Sauropods

[Darryl <dinoguy@interlog.com>]

At 09:20 PM 09/10/97 PDT, you wrote:
>What's the consensus on this?  Have there been impressions found for 
>enough Sauropods to indicate that the entire clade was scaly and/or 
>prickly?  If not, which were?  
>
Well, most evidence indicates that titanosaurs had scutes (osteoderms).
Several have been found with them.  Also, theropod skin impressions have
been found from two very divergent lines (tyrannosaurs and abelisaurs)
showing they had bumpy skin, with osteoderms.  Ornithischian dinosaurs as
divergent as hadrosaurs and ceretop(s)ians have the same bumpy, scaly skin.
 If these two developed this skin independantly, it would be odd.  It would
seem most parsimonious for sauropods to have the same bumpy, scaled skin.
Skin patches from a single? sauropod have also shown this.

>Is the concept of the smooth-skinned Sauropod dead?
>
Probably.  Why would we assume that it was?

>Is anyone NOT at SVP?
>
Yes, but not happy about it.


Darryl  <dinoguy@interlog.com
Visit my webpage at:
http://www.interlog.com/~dinoguy
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"Genetics explains why you look like your father, and if
you don't, why you should."   (anonymous)
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