Banned for dissing ankylosauruses.
There are no issues over bone strength or muscle strength with sauropods. They evolved solid leg bones (unlike most mammals) which are much stronger and easily capable of bearing the animal when walking, or even (as has been proposed for diplodocids) rearing up on to their rear legs. The diplodocids also show various evolutionary adaptations to reduce weight in their bodies including very delicate bones in their heads and hollow vertebrae.
Hearts are more difficult to reconstruct as we have no fossil evidence. The very high blood pressure that would be required to pump blood into the neck if it were raised has been used as an argument that sauropods normally kept their heads level or even slightly declined.
Iād settle for proto feathers. Iāve seen many reversals in scientific
beliefs (they must have been beliefs because they got reversed) in the past
decades.
Actually dinosaurs are a perfect example of scientific reversals. They also
a perfect example of studying something vastāperiods of 100s of millions of
years that are 100s of millions of years in the pastāfrom a perspective
limited to what we can glean and deduce. Iāve learned to have faith in some
imagination. Particle physics, for example, doesnāt even work without
theoretical physicists.
Feathers are far more versatile than fur. They are attached to musculature
beneath the skin which allows configuration for cool/warm, dry/wet,
fly/swim. They could function to keep a long neck warm in Arctic weather and
a multi-ton body cool in an equatorial summer. Massive body heat isnāt any
more protection from protracted cold environments where calories are scarce
than naked skin is protection from constant equatorial sun. The larger, more
exposed creatures might have great need of something.
Recent findings have large dinosaurs migrating to the Arctic area annually
from hotter climates. Very recent findings state that feathers might be
wider spread among ābasalā dinosaurs (meaning throughout major divisions I
think) than thought. 15 years ago, āfeathers on a dinosaurā was literally
being termed the ludicrous spouting of a nut with very little evidence. (I
watched the interview.) 15 years before that, dinosaurs never ventured into
cold climates, except woolly mammoths.
The classic picture of a big sauropod without cover from direct sun light
all day is still accepted. Why? What other creature does that? Elephants
spend lots of time under cover of trees. Mammals, of course, evolved hiding
beneath things. Lizards and snakes regulate their temperatures very
carefully. Birds seem to spend the most time in the sun. They have feathers.
I am no expert and not trying to be. However, my money is on feathers. They donāt have to be covered. Maybe some, just an umbrella and a shawl. But it might have to be stranger for fact rather than fiction.
Cheers!
If that were anyone but Joan Rivers, I would say too soon, but she would have made much worse jokes about herself.
Can we talk about how great the name isā¦Dreadnaughtus Schraniā¦ because thatās an awesome name. In fact, itās so cool that Iām going back in time and renaming my kid that. Dear dreadnaughtus is just going to have to live with it now.
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