Gigantism in sauropod dinosaurs

[Michael Lange <Michael.Lange@gmx.ch>]

I don't think this paper was mentioned on the list before and might be of some 
interest.

Rauhut, Oliver. 2005. 40 m land und 100t schwer - Der Gigantismus der 
sauropoden Dinosaurier [40 metres long and 100 tuns weight - gigantism in 
sauropod dinosaurs]. Fossilien, 4: 208-213.

Original English abstract: The large size is one of the hallmarks of dinosaurs. 
Within this group, it is especially the long-necked dinosaurs, the sauropods, 
which reached sizes unrivalled by any other terrestrial vertebrates. However, 
although great progress has been made in recent years, the reasons for this 
gigantism and the question, how these animal functioned biomechanically and 
physiologically are still not fully understood. The old image of overweight, 
clumsy, and rather dim amphibious beasts has been replaced by the modern view 
of highly successful terrestrial animals that combine a remarkable leight but 
strong anatomical construction with interesting physiological adaptations, but 
many aspects of sauropod biology need further elucidation. A new DFG (German 
Research Foundation) research unit, in which palaeontologists, zoologists, 
physiologist, biomechanists, and material scientists from seven universities in 
three different countries are united in an interdisciplin!
ary
 approach, will now shed new light on these issues.

Best wishes,

Michael Lange

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