[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index][Subject Index][Author Index]
Re: B. walkeri neural spines
. . .what's PT? Oh, Prehistoric Times, do you have a scan?
On Monday, June 21, 2004, at 01:10 PM, Ken Carpenter wrote:
There is no evidence that the ribcage was unusually wide, so take
Tracy's art with a grain of salt.
Ken
Steven Coombs <gasperex@hotmail.com> 21/Jun/04 >>>
In PT #50, Tracey Lee Ford has a cross-section of a Spinosaurus and its
trunk is very broad compared to most theropods who are much more
narrower.
In my opinion it could have been comparable in body shape to
crocodiles for
exmaple, especially being able to float like that (by the way, there
is a
cool sketch down by Luis Rey depicting this in A Field Guide to
Dinosaurs on
page 94). And maybe that huge enflated hump of "air" on their backs
would
have helped Spinosaurus to steal prey from a scared Sarcosuchus. But,
then
again there is many other possibilities for what that structure was
for.
Steven Coombs
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Steven's Dinosaurs: http://www.stevensdinosaurs.com
From: Amtoine Grant <ajgrant@eastlink.ca>
Reply-To: ajgrant@eastlink.ca
To: dinosaur@usc.edu
Subject: Re: B. walkeri neural spines
Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 00:57:52 -0300
Never though of that. On that note, I wonder how similar bone density
&
weight is between Baryonx & crocodiles. Does anybody know? If it, and
quite
presumably other members of it's family - really DID have
'crocodile-like'
tendencies(lurking/swimming in water), then air sacs to help regulate
it's
'floatability' in water really does make sense. Stranger things in
nature
have happened - an air sac on your face for display when there's so
many
more conventional methods, it would seem.
I've always wondered about the aquatic abilities of theropods, when
you
think that most all living reptiles seem to swim as naturally as a
fish
when presented with water, and in a 'snakelike', undulating fashion.
Given
that larger-er predatory reptiles today, such as monitor lizards &
crocodilians, for example, share this trait, naturally theropods,
which
would probably have just a little bit higher drag in water than a
crocodiles(the larger ones, anyway) would/should have a high
probabilty of
this behaviour as well. We may just be seeing what one, or closely
related
groups(spinosaurs & baryonchids, if you humor the separation) who
enjoyed
the environment more than others, responded. Thoughts?
_________________________________________________________________
Add photos to your messages with MSN Premium. Get 2 months FREE*
http://join.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-ca&page=byoa/
prem&xAPID=1994&DI=1034&SU=http://hotmail.com/
enca&HL=Market_MSNIS_Taglines