Sauroposeidon

[Philidor11@aol.com]

This animal, which is described as similar to a brachiosaur, was identified 
from a rib and some neck bones.  The neck is described as at least 40 feet 
long.  The November 3rd AP news story datelined Oklahoma City says 
Sauroposeidon means thunder lizard.  Sigh.
I'm wondering why an animal would want to keep its body at least 40 feet (the 
neck length) from its food?
The story was on an aol news page, so I can't provide a hyperlink.



Oklahoma Bones Point to Huge Dinosaur

By LINDA FRANKLIN
.c The Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY (Nov. 3) - Bones found in southeastern Oklahoma were from a 
60-ton, 60-foot tall giraffe-like creature that is among the biggest 
dinosaurs ever discovered, a paleontologist said today.

A report on the Sauroposeidon - or thunder lizard - is expected to be 
presented in the March issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, said 
researcher Richard Cifelli of the University of Oklahoma.

Cifelli called the creature ''among the biggest or arguably the biggest'' 
dinosaur ever.

''This guy took that general Brachiosaurus trend and pushed it to the max,'' 
he said. The better-known Brachiosaurus was about 45 feet tall. Cifelli said 
the Sauroposeidon had a neck that was conservatively 40 feet long.

He said there was an ''incredible compromise between making the neck strong 
enough to function and also be light enough so that you can lift the whole 
apparatus up.''

The remains were found in 1994 in Atoka County. Cifelli said he gave them 
about a year ago to an undergraduate student who needed a research project.

The first report was of a rib an inch wide and 5 feet long, he said. The 
largest of the vertebrae found was 5 feet long.

''It looked like a trunk of a tree,'' Cifelli said.

Apart from the neck bones, scientists have been unable to locate the rest of 
the animal's remains.

''I feel like the rest of it still has to be there somewhere,'' he said.

Cifelli said there are different ways of measuring the biggest dinosaur. The 
Sauroposeidon was definitely the tallest and definitely had the longest neck, 
he said. He said there were probably heavier and definitely longer dinosaurs.

 AP-NY-11-03-99 1150EST

Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news 
report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed 
without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active 
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