Re: Sauropod and forest dwelling

[carlo godel <regiaero@gj.net>]

 Hello Martin,
   We must also entertain the notion that you are talking of two species  of
elephant in different parts of the word and the smaller species of elephane
is living in a deciduous forest as opposed to a conifer forest.  Your
analogy lacks a bit as elephants have a very stiff neck also they can rotate
their heads but not turn them very far, either species.
Conifer forests are of note less dense than deciduous forests by virtue of
the trees' shallow root system and their interference with each others
growth. Hence the idea of sauropods among the trees is not as distant as you
might suppose.
Carlo

Martin Human wrote:

> > B.Dol@skn.sc.philips.com wrote
> > I know some sauropods were much larger than elefants, but I do not
> > think their large size prevented them from venturing into the
> > forests. Elefants (and rhinos) do this and as a result destroy large
> > pieces of the local vegetation. This, of course, is not as
>
> Remember that "forest elephants" have adapted physiologically to a
> forest existence by becoming smaller than their savannah cousins, and
> have straighter tusks to enable easier manoeuvering among the trees.
> They also have relatively smaller ears (it's cooler under the trees).
>
> I would expect any dinosaur adapted to move among trees to exhibit
> smaller size, a more slender x-section, and in the case of a sauropod, a
> highly flexible neck than proposed "open cover" dwellers.
>
> cheers, martin