RE: Brachiosaur Defense

["Thom Holmes" <tholmes@dolphinsoft.com>]

Size, size, and size.

I would guess that a slap to the side of a carnivore with a 3+ ton sauropod
tail could do a lot of  damage. Since theropods could probably not side-step
too effectively, and Farlow and others have noted how disabling or even
fatal a mere stumble could have been for a large theropod, I would think
that a predatory dinosaur would pick its sauropod victims wisely. The sick
and the young would probably have been the most likely targets.

Thom Holmes
dinosaur author at large

-----Original Message-----
From: ceevans@home.com [mailto:ceevans@home.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2000 7:46 PM
To: dinosaur@usc.edu
Subject: Brachiosaur Defense


Hi Everybody,

I was wondering if someone could help me with this. I was wondering how
a Brachiosaur(Brachiosaurus, Supersaurus, Ultrasaurus, etc.)could defend
itself against a large predatory dinosaur(Allosaurus, Ceratosaurus,
etc.) because I know that brachiosaurs didn't have the long, whip-lash
tails that the diplodicids had. I doubt that a predator would stand
still long enough to be crushed by the front feet, also.

Any Info Appreciated,
Chris