Re: Meat eating sauropods

[Robert.J.Meyerson@uwrf.edu (Rob Meyerson)]

>>>   There was a mention on either s.b.p or the dino-list about a Bakkerian
>>>claim of sauropods grabbing theropods with their mouths and tossing them
>>>around.  It was only an off-hand comment, no real detail, but it piqued my
>>>interest.
>>>
>>>   Anybody know anything more about it?
>>
>>You have made an erroneous, but understandable, assumption here.  The
>>article (in Earth Magazine about a year ago) concerned sauropod *defense*,
>>not predation!  Note the comment was "grabbing theropods with their mouths
>>and tossing them around", not "grabbing theropods with their mouths and
>>eating them".
>
>   You have made an erroneous, but understandable, assumption here.  The
>subject line, "meat eating sauropods", was merely a contrivance to get
>people's attention.

It may interest some to know, however, than a Triassic aged prosauropod
called THECODONTOSAURUS has been described (At least in the popular
liturature, knowing how accurate that is ;-) in the liturature as having
sharp, dagger-like teeth in the front of the mouth.  Since the rest of the
jaw has the usual sauropod morphology, it is assumed that this animal may
have been omnivorous, eating whatever it could get its hands (claws?) on.

Any comment?

GEOLOGISTS ARE FUN TO BE WITH BECAUSE THEY'RE VERY GNIESS