THOUGHTS ON SAUROPOD NECKS

["Jerry D. Harris" <102354.2222@compuserve.com>]

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Message text written by INTERNET:darren.naish@port.ac.uk

"Well, Dale Russell was quoted in the _Science_ article that first 
reported _Argentinosaurus_ that he felt that this animal may well 
have weighed upwards of 100 tons - it is not just a Lessemism (god 
help us if it was). Of course, Brian is very correct in that 
virtually all other sauropods - including _Mamenchisaurus_ and most
diplodocids - were considerably less weighty. Current estimates put 
these animals between 10 and 35 tons, or thereabouts."


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        And let's not forget the sadly lost partial vertebra of
_Amphicoelias fragillimus_, which, when restored based on similar
diplodocid vertebrae, would have been much larger (though skinnier and
probably lighter) than even _Argentinosaurus_ verts* -- an average
_Diplodocus_ individual could have walked under the belly of this one
without touching!

*for a schematic comparison, see:

Paul, G.S.  1997.  Dinosaur models:  the good, the bad, and using them
estimate the mass of dinosaurs, pp.129-154 in Wolberg, D.L., Stump, E., and
Rosenberg, G.D. (eds.)  _Dinofest International:  Proceedings of a
Symposium Sponsored by Arizona State University_.  Philadelphia:  Academy
of Natural Sciences.

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                     Jerry D. Harris
                 Fossil Preparation Lab
          New Mexico Museum of Natural History
                   1801 Mountain Rd NW
               Albuquerque  NM  87104-1375
                 Phone:  (505) 899-2809
                  Fax:  (505) 841-2866
               102354.2222@compuserve.com