Re: A Whole Bunch Of Questions

[Danvarner@aol.com]

dino_rampage@hotmail.com (Ivan Kwan) rampages away with interesting questions:
    
<< And as for mosasaurs, what are the odds that not all mosasaurs gave birth 
like _Plioplatecarpus_? After all, different species in the same family can 
have varied methods of producing young (like in the lacertid lizards or 
colubrid snakes) & sometimes it differs even within species; for example, 
the viviparous lizard (_Lacerta viviparus_) of Europe gives birth in the 
northern part of its range but lays eggs like the other _Lacerta_ species in 
warmer climates? So is it possible that modes of reproduction among the 
mosasaurs was as varied then? (Maybe the smaller, more basal ones like 
_Halisaurus_ being egg-layers with the larger ones being ovoviviparous with 
the giant _Mosasaurus_ or _Tylosaurus_ being fully viviparous? Who knows...>>

       Problem is mosasaur limbs move mainly in a dorso-ventral plane. 
Difficult to reach forward or push backward. Also the pelvic girdle is just 
kind of hanging there, with no real solid connection to the vertebral column. 
If you want them to move around like snakes, you're kind of out of luck 
because the ribs peter out behind the lungs. And the tail is bent downward 
distally. Terrible, if not fatal, design for beach locomotion, if that's 
where you want to lay eggs.
       As for hadrosaur necks, ornamentation, and the brachylophosaur named 
Leonardo, watch for paleolife artist, Greg Wenzel's work on that specimen. 
He's all over it. Check here periodically for information, said DV nervously:
http://www.montanadinosaurdigs.com/brachleo.htm