Re: DinoMorph Strikes Back!... or does it?

[mkirkaldy@aol.com]

(Posted for Kent Stevens.)
_____

A few comments regarding Gregory S. Paul's (GSP's) communication:

1) I agree with GSP regarding:  [for all sauropods to have low-slung 
necks] "... it's not impossible, but it's really odd".  Sauropods were 
probably very odd indeed, and not fitting nicely into some preconceived 
notions.  Specifically, for such large terrestrial vertebrates to have 
such long necks and not go around holding them nearly vertically, 
giraffe-like ...  I can see how that would rub some people the wrong 
way.

2) For those unfamiliar with the juvenile _Camarasaurus_ CM 11338 from 
personal observation, I have posted some pictures that clearly show how 
the neck is preserved in a hyper-dorsiflexed pose.  The zygapophyses 
are clearly disarticulated at most intervertebral joints.  This fact 
should not be a matter of argument or artistic disagreement.  The 
postzygapophyses are translated caudally as a consequence of 
dorsiflexion to the point they are physically wedged tight against the 
ascending neural arches of the more caudal cervical.   For those of you 
that have only seen photographs (or drawings) of this specimen in 
lateral view, the photographs should be informative and settle any 
doubts that might remain as to whether this juvenile is preserved in a 
comfortably achievable happy-young-sauropod-out-for-a-stroll posture.

You may find the newly introduced images by selecting Camarasaurus 
(from the second menu from the left) on the following site:

http://www.cs.uoregon.edu/~kent/DinoMorph

then scrolling to the bottom and clicking the link to CM 11338

or just look directly at them here:

http://www.cs.uoregon.edu/~kent/DinoMorph/Camarasaurus/CMNH11338.html

3) Regarding the remarkable _Camarasaurus_ specimen with two fused 
vertebrae (AMNH 5761/X-a-5-605).  Just look at them.  They sure seem to 
be in collinear alignment when you are right there in the big bone room 
at the AMNH looking at them.  The pictures kindly taken by Rick Edwards 
and facilitated by Carl Mehling convey much of the story.  Here are 
shortcuts to the images:

http://www.cs.uoregon.edu/~kent/DinoMorph/Camarasaurus/images/AMNH/5761a-
02.jpg
http://www.cs.uoregon.edu/~kent/DinoMorph/Camarasaurus/images/AMNH/5761a-
03.jpg

4) In the 1999 Science article Mike Parrish and I published, the 
manuscript originally included data for 25% and 75% overlap as well as 
the 50% overlap, but the other estimates were dropped in the editing in 
order to save column inches.  But curiously the height results for 25% 
safety factor were rather similar to those for 50%, for reasons that 
seem to escape GSP:  to raise the head (and NOT merely curl the neck 
into an arc), almost all the dorsiflexion must arise at the base of the 
neck.  The mid neck, and especially the cranial few cervical vertebrae 
must remain STRAIGHT in order to maximize the elevation of the head.  
So the large number of cervical vertebrae don't really enter into how 
high the head can raise. One cannot trivially multiply (say) 5 degrees 
per joint times 18 joints (= 90 degrees) and conclude the neck forms a 
right angle with respect to the trunk of the animal.  What would result 
is an arc of diminishing radius of curvature (because centra length 
diminishes cranially).  Such simple numerology does not yield the 
desired giraffe-like neck, the kind with a sharp kink at the bottom and 
a derrick-like ascent. To get a giraffe-like neck requires specialized 
vertebral morphology at the base of the neck, which informally we call 
"wedge-shaped" or "keystone shaped".  Incidentally, some dinosaur 
illustrations (particularly of camarasaurids and brachiosaurids) show 
both a sharp upturn at the base AND an inflection point at mid neck 
(i.e. an overall sigmoid or reflex curve).  In order to create a reflex 
curve, the cranial portion of the neck must be ventriflexed and the 
caudal part dorsiflexed (if they are not already so-disposed in their 
osteologically neutral pose, as in the horse, and the avian neck, for 
instance).  Trying to put a swan-like sigmoid curve in a sauropod neck, 
one ends up with a disappointingly low-amplitude sigmoid curve (unless, 
of course, one disarticulates the vertebrae where necessary to create 
the desired curve).

5) Sorry, but I must reiterate that when compositing original published 
illustrations to reconstruct a vertebral series, one needs to be 
mindful of the fact that 1) the vertebrae are sometimes not depicted in 
correct scale within the original document, and 2) some bones are 
crushed and significantly distorted diagenetically.  The first issue 
induces artifactual curvature, leading to the false impression of a 
truffle-hunting, or gopher-hunting sauropod in osteologically neutral 
position.  I hope this red herring doesn't keep rearing its ugly head, 
to mix metaphors.  The second issue, attempting to place a distorted 
vertebrae into close articulation with its adjacent vertebrae, is 
simply silly.  For that reason, I pay careful attention to the image 
scale of each vertebra image, and secondly, place any distorted 
elements with caution, using the adjacent vertebrae as an overall guide 
 (such as I did regarding the noted sixth caudal of _Apatosaurus_ CM 
3018 from Gilmore, some _Dicraeosaurus_ presacrals, and the 
mid-cervicals of _Diplodocus_ CM 84 that cause a downturn which Mike 
Parrish and I checked by manipulating casts of the originals, and 
concluded is due to distortion).  The photo-composites, therefore, 
indeed leave some gaps where frank distortions arise in the component 
vertebrae, so that the educated eye can clearly see the distortion for 
what it is.

BOTTOM LINE:  the osteological adaptations used by extant vertebrates 
to induce neck curvature, and specifically to elevate the neck, are 
absent in all the sauropod specimens we have thus far examined.  Find 
us some wedgies, and we'll be delighted.  Otherwise, the sauropods all 
seemed "odd" indeed:  long necks hanging way out in front, about 
horizontally, maybe a droopy like that of "Eeyore" (reconstructed so 
artistically, and yet accurately, by E.H. Shepard for A.A. Milne's 
Winnie the Pooh).