Re: Sauropod Biology

[Tim Williams <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

Sim Koning wrote:

> My point was simply that the extremely derived, high shouldered forms 
> seemed to have gone into decline after the Jurassic.

Yes, that seems to be true.  In that vein, Cifelli et al. (2000) gave 
_Sauroposeidon_ the species name _proteles_, meaning "perfected before the 
end".

> There is some evidence that they may have survived into the late cretaceous 
> though.

Carpenter and Tidwell (2004) suggest that the brachiosaurid _Sonorasaurus_ 
might be of Cenomanian age.   Anatomically, _Sonorasaurus_ is extremely 
similar to _Brachiosaurus_.

Cheers

Tim