Re: Neck Defense

[Amtoine Grant <blackphoenix@eastlink.ca>]

On Monday, March 20, 2006, at 09:23  PM, Andrew Simpson wrote:

> Oh of course a sauropod would use its tail if it had a long tail, 
> (there are even one or two that I know of that have little clubs at 
> the end), but the large sauropod in question has a small tail in 
> comparison that does look like an effective whip, (I may not have made 
> this clear in my first remark), leaving stomping, kicking, size and 
> biting as defenses. None of which seems as effective as a good neck 
> swing or ten.
>
> Of modern animals that use the tail as a whip there is the african 
> monitor lizard. Can fend off a lion with it.

Not a very hungry lion, I'd imagine. In all honesty, sauropods could 
have even had poisonous flesh and/or spurs adorning their tails. It'd 
certainly make a lot of sense for the very young sauropods.