Re: FW: when dinos ruled

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

> Grant Harding wrote:
> 
> The animations in that one were indeed fantastic, if featherless (but
>that's just a consequence of the year).  I loved the _Stegosaurus_ vs.
>Ceratosaurus sequence.  

Complete with waggling stegosaur plates. I'm not sure how accurate that
idea is, but it made for great animation.

> Something I thought was interesting was that in the _Herrerasaurus_
> sequence, and in the _Tyrannosaurus_ vs. _Triceratops_ sequence (a
> lovely one including baby _rex_es), they showed the theropods *sitting
> down*, a lot like  a dog, and a bit less like that photo of an emu in
> Horner and Lessem's _Complete T. rex_.  Did anybody else notice that?
>  Would it have been possible?

Certainly it would have for dromaeosaurids, with their retroverted
pubes. Any theropod with a pubic boot in front of the hip
socket would have found it difficult though, since most of their
weight would have been borne on those thin ischia.

As an aside, I saw a recent documentary on kangaroos, which
reminded me of their habit of digging "hip holes" into the soil
before laying down on their sides, perhaps to help keep cool but
mostly it seems for comfort. I wonder whether large dinosaurs
(ornithopods and theropods come to mind) ever did the same.

-- 
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        Dann Pigdon
        GIS Archaeologist
        Melbourne, Australia

        Australian Dinosaurs:
        http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/4459/
        http://www.alphalink.com.au/~dannj
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