RE: Did sauropods suckle? Re: Yahoo news: Study: Dinosaurs Gained Weight Fast

[Richard W Travsky <rtravsky@uwyo.edu>]

On Fri, 27 Jul 2001, Tracy L. Ford wrote:
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> Richard W Travsky
> Sent: Friday, July 27, 2001 1:30 PM
> To: dinosaur@usc.edu
> Subject: Did sauropods suckle? Re: Yahoo news: Study: Dinosaurs Gained
> Weight Fast
> 
> On Wed, 25 Jul 2001, Donald Lamson wrote:
> > See:
> >
> > http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010725/sc/fast_growing_dinosaurs_2.html
> >
> > Partial story:
> >
> > Wednesday July 25 2:41 PM ET
> >
> > Study: Dinosaurs Gained Weight Fast
> >
> > By MATT CRENSON,
> >
> > The biggest dinosaurs reached their enormous proportions by growing faster
> > than almost any animal that has ever lived, a new analysis of fossilized
> > bones indicates.
> >
> > In Thursday's issue of the journal Nature, paleontologists estimate that
> the
> > giant apatosaurus, formerly known as brontosaurus, put on more than 30
> > pounds a day at the height of its adolescent growth spurt.
> >
> > Argentinasaurus, perhaps the heaviest dinosaur that ever lived, would have
> > gained more than 100 pounds a day during its most rapid period of growth.
> > [...]
> 
> What kind of diet could result in such a weight gain? The little thing
> woud have to be continuously eating Mass Quantities. I mean without
> breaks. The food would have to be really nutritious or the digestion
> really efficient.
> 
> Can you do that on plant stuffs? What's an equivalent/comparable weight
> gain for, say, cattle? Percentage wise or whatever.
> 
> Dare I say it - did they suckle? The only thing I can think of is whales.
> Doing a quick web search:
> 
> 
> Oh gawd, please tell me he didn’t say that. For crying out loud, I don’t
> believe this (not the first time someone posted that inane question). Ok,
> yea, they did, the female had 100 teats for all the little squirts!!!! Yea,
> right, dinosaurs are mammals not reptiles, they had hair, had to worry about
> premature balding, had breasts, produced milk.
> 
> One more reason why I wonder about this list.

Of course it's inane. If the 100 pound per day weight gain can't be
explained by eating plants, how many alternatives are there to consider?