You could lead a sauropod to water ...

["Matthew Bonnan" <mbonnan@hotmail.com>]

... and it probably drank! =)  Not to put a damper (boy, that was an awful 
pun) on anyone's sauropod speculation here, but just keep in mind that we 
find camarasaurs and diplodocids together in the river channel sands of 
Dinosaur National Monument.  In fact, we tend to find these animals mixed 
together throughout most of the Morrison Formation.  While I wholeheartedly 
agree that diplodocids and camarasaurids were probably pursuing different 
feeding strategies (you can even see statistically significant differences 
in their feet -- oh, wow, how incredibly cool), I have my doubts that 
camarasaurids were desert animals or were somehow conserving water like 
desert mammals and/or reptiles.

Camarasaurids have stiffer hind feet and a taller hand (manus) than 
diplodocids, and this seems like it might exapt them to feeding on a bit 
more solid ground.  The heavier skull, with it's large teeth, also suggest 
that perhaps camarasaurids ate tougher plants than diplodocids.  However, it 
would seem that both camarasaurids and diplodocids were living in the same 
areas, just exploiting different regions within those areas so as to not 
directly compete with one another.

As with all archosaurs, sauropods must have conserved some water by 
excreting uric acid, rather than urea as we do.  They therefore would lose 
less water in their feces.  And maybe all sauropods avoided conifers.  Maybe 
they concentrated on more "succulent" tree ferns and cycadoids?  Hey, knock 
some fern trees down, strip away the leaves, that sort of thing as well.

And here's a thought on drinking.  Why not just wade into a river up to your 
armpits, and then drink?  No problems with getting your head down.  Here's 
another one for shallow water -- lie down in it and drink.  Of course, you 
have to get back up. =)

Or, you know that sauropods were great at knocking over vending machines to 
get at cokes.  Need a bottle opener?  Just use your big ol' thumb claw.  Or 
your hind feet.  Great for parties. =) =P ;)  See, kids?  This is what 
happens to you when you decide to become a paleontologist -- all the good 
jokes flow out of you and are replaced by lame dinosaur and geology jokes.  
Don't take this for granite.  You have been warned. =)

Sauropod podiatrist,
Matt Bonnan

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