RE: Plesiosaur necks (was Sauropods and lung development)

["Stewart, Dwight" <Dwight.Stewart@VLSI.com>]

Tanystropheus was a Triassic Prolacertiform, was it not?  Wasn't its neck ~
twice as long as its body???

Dwight

        -----Original Message-----
        From:   Dinogeorge@aol.com [SMTP:Dinogeorge@aol.com]
        Sent:   Friday, September 25, 1998 3:39 AM
        To:     gbabcock@best.com; Philidor11@aol.com;
JNorton@MAILBOX.UNE.EDU
        Cc:     dinosaur@usc.edu
        Subject:        Re: Plesiosaur necks (was Sauropods and lung
development)

        In a message dated 98-09-25 03:01:20 EDT, gbabcock@best.com writes:

        << Just as it is easier to swing a long, flexible neck quickly
through the
         water than to quickly maneuver the none-too-petite plesiosaur body
after
         prey, there will be much less resistance to swiftly moving the
small head
         (as opposed to a wider head) through the water.  Like the fishing
birds to
         which you refer, the plesiosaur design is apparently better suited
for a
         speedy plucking of individual items, as opposed to the "fish net"
approach
         you suggest. >>

        You want long necks? Try to figure out what a Tanystropheus did with
the one
        it had.