more ideas about falling dinosaurs

[Sim Koning <simkoning@msn.com>]

I've noticed that one of the things that is brought up the most regarding 
this issue, is the fact that giant tyrannosaurs and similar theropods lack 
long arms and therefore would not be able to break their fall. The more I 
thought about it, the more I realized that the primary reason humans have to 
use their arms while falling forward is simply because we have no way to 
counterbalance our torsos when it pitches forward. Maybe I'm way off, but I 
think the fact that tyrannosaurs had a large counterbalancing tail would 
prevent the torso and head from pitching forward violently the way a human's 
would.

 Imagine this, a tyrannosaur is running after its prey, its eyes fixed on 
its target, it doesn't see a large stump before its too late. One of the 
tyrannosaur's feet hits the stump mid stride, causing it to stumble. The 
tyrannosaur takes two awkward steps, losing height with each one before it 
finally loses balance and goes down onto one knee and pubic "boot". The 
tyrannosaur's center of gravity continues to shift forward as the 
tyrannosaur slides onto its chest with both legs now pointing back like a 
giant penguin. With this scenario, which I believe would be the most likely 
type of fall, there is no actual free fall. Now if the t-rex was tied up and 
dropped from 5 feet in the air like a pile of bricks, then yeah, I imagine 
that could do some nasty damage! The only way I think a free fall of that 
sort would happen would be if a T-rex had both feet taken out from under it, 
like if it tripped over a large tree.

Anyway, that's just how I visualize it happening in my mind. If there are 
any flaws in my thinking feel free to let me know =)

_________________________________________________________________
Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! 
http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/