Re: [SWIMMING SAUROPODS]

[archosaur@usa.net]

owner-dinosaur@usc.edu wrote:
> Betty Cunningham wrote:
> 
> > And if so, how to account for the 'swimming sauropod' trackway?
> 
> Though Thulborn (DINOSAUR TRACKS, Chapman and Hall 1990) accepts Bird's
> description of the famous "swimming" sauropod trackway, Lockley
> (TRACKING DINOSAURS, Cambridge University Press 1991) refutes this
> interpretation for the Texas tracks, as well as a similar Moroccan find,
> attributing the misinterpretation to undertracks. 
> 
> the Rieglers wrote:
>  
> > It hardly seems possible for them to have swam decently.
> 
> Elephants, similar to sauropods in that their legs are pillar-like, are
> rather good swimmers actually, covering considerable distances in the
> ocean. The footage of them I've seen paints a rather stately, elegant
> picture. Greg Paul's black-and-white illustration of an _Apatosaurus_
> being pursued in deep water by a group of allosaurs captures the essence
> of sauropod aquatic maneuvers nicely, I think.
> 
> Brian (franczak@ntplx.net)
> http://www.paleolife-art.com
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Yeow. I didn't know that there are elephants
that swim in the ocean. In fact I didn't even know
that there were coastal elephants at all.

As for swimming sauropods, I think that it would be highly 
plausible. If it's one thing nature has shown it's that
the weirdest things can happen, regardless of the facts.

I know tortoises (who also have pillar like legs) while not the best 
swimmers, are still usually capable of some form of swimming.

Although I can't vouch for the larger Galapagos and Aldabra
variety.

Archosaur J


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