Re: Dinolocomotion and the Gator Pelvis

[philidor11@snet.net]

>From the news story (and original press release):
<Birds descended from dinosaurs; alligators are the closest living 
relatives of dinosaurs, Farmer said.> 
'Farmer' is
Colleen Farmer, a research assistant professor of biology at 
the University of Utah.

Yes!?
(In chess notation, '!?' means an interesting idea.)

Also,

<When a gator inhales, the muscle pulls the liver back toward 
the pelvis and tail. The liver, in turn, is attached to the lungs. 
So when the liver is pulled backward, it helps an alligator's 
chest and lungs expand during inhalation. The liver slams forward 
into the lungs when the animal exhales.>

Seems like a good time to ask:  though it's been going on successfully 
for a while, doesn't this seem like a hard knock life for a liver? 





= = = Original message = = =

Don't think anyone's talked about this yet.  From ScienceDaily, 
a story
about University of Utah scientists running alligators on treadmills. 

The headline runs:

Alligators On A Treadmill Hint How
Dinosaurs Breathed; Rotating Bone In
Pelvis Helps Gators Walk And Breathe
Simultaneously 

Full story can be found at:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011119070351.htm

M.J.Murphy

`The shapes of things are dumb.'
-L. Wittgenstein



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