RE: titanosaur osteoderms

[Sebastian Apesteguia <sebapesteguia@yahoo.com.ar>]

Yes, scutes are commonly less than 20 cm in lenght,
but sometimes....

I don't remember the size of the Ford scute but I've
saw some turtle-like ones of about 30 cm and found a
still unpublished enormeous of around 40 cm!!! (and I
mean a rounded one, not a spike-like).
So, there were big ones, but no articulated specimens
to know where and how many.


--- Tim Williams <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>
escribió:

> 
> Sebastián Apesteguía wrote:
> 
> > That's why I don't think that the presence or
> absence
> > of scutes in Alamoss, Opis or Futalognkoss would
> mean
> > anything, because if they had only 2 or 3 big
> scutes
> > in the whole body, they are very difficult to
> > preserve.
> 
> Yes, good point.  When an adult titanosaur skeleton
> is found mostly complete and at least partly
> articulated (like _Epachthosaurus_, or
> _Opisthocoelicaudia_ or even _Isisaurus_) they are
> interpreted, quite reasonably, as unarmored.  Then
> again, you have to wonder how much protection only
> two or three scutes would afford to a titanosaur, no
> matter how big the scutes were.  :-)
> 
> While on the subject of big scutes, there is a
> report of very large osteoderms that are assumed to
> be of sauropod origin...
> 
> Ford, T. L. (2001).  The armor of sauropods. 
> Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 21 (3, Supp)
> Abstracts of papers, 61st Annual Meeting, Society of
> Vertebrate Paleontology, Museum of the Rockies,
> Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, October,
> 3-6, p. 50a.
> 
> I don't have much/any info about these mega-scutes.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Tim
> 
> 
>
_________________________________________________________________
> Boo! Scare away worms, viruses and so much more! Try
> Windows Live OneCare!
>
http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-us/purchase/trial.aspx?s_cid=wl_hotmailnews
> 


Lic. Sebastián Apesteguía

Museo Patagónico de Ciencias Naturales,
Av. Roca 1250, General Roca, 
(8334) Río Negro, ARGENTINA

Sección de Paleontología de Vertebrados 
Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales 'B. Rivadavia'
Av. Ángel Gallardo 470 (1405) Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA
Tel-fax:5411-49826595 i.193, paleoninja@yahoo.com.ar

Área de Paleontología. Fundación de Historia Natural 'Félix de Azara',
Dto. de Ciencias Naturales y Antropología, CEBBAD, Univ.Maimónides, 
V. Virasoro 732 (1405), Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA
Tel-fax: 5411-49051100 i. 1228, secretaria@fundacionazara.org.ar 
www.fundacionazara.org.ar


      Los referentes más importantes en compra/ venta de autos se juntaron:
Demotores y Yahoo!
Ahora comprar o vender tu auto es más fácil. Vistá ar.autos.yahoo.com/