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Re: late night thoughts: misunderstand what?
Anthony Docimo writes:
what would happen if the tyrannosaur bit down into the tail?
(my guess: the sauropod would bleed to death, no matter what happens with
the tyrannosaur)
Given how far away from the heart most sauropod tails were, I'm not sure it
would have been a particularly 'bleedy' body part. Lots of modern animals
can survive the loss of part (or even all) of the tail. I've seen many a
half-tailed stray cat, and even footage of a tailless kangaroo (that could
still hop with the best of them). All survived their catastrophic
de-tailings.
The neck, however, is a different story. Animals have a vested interest in
supplying lots of blood to the brain. There's not such a demand for blood
flow in the tail, so I'm guessing blood pressure there tends to be much
lower than in the neck of most animals.
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Dann Pigdon
GIS / Archaeologist http://www.geocities.com/dannsdinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia http://heretichides.soffiles.com
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