Re: The heart of a Brachiosaurus

[GSP1954@aol.com]

I have modeled the heart of the Berlin Brachiosaurus of 32 tonnes, and found
that the anterior ribcage is large enough to accomodate at most a one tonne
heart. Whales of similar size have a 150 kg heart, which is normal for a
mammal of that size. The sauropod's enormous heart is similar to the oversized
heart of giraffes, and was necessary to pump blood all the way up the
subvertical neck. The oxygen consumption and heat production of such a super-
heart would have been very high, and boosted the resting metabolism of the
sauropod well above the reptilian maximum. I have discussed these issues in my
paper on terramegathermy in the Morrison Symposium volume in Modern Geology
23:179-217. 

GSPaul