Re: flexible horizontal ridge in dino restorations, and Baryonyx

["Christopher Straughn" <chrisas@elnet.com>]

> Date:          Tue, 07 Oct 1997 17:12:35 +0000
> Reply-to:      wa105@mead.anglia.ac.uk
> From:          wa105@mead.anglia.ac.uk
> To:            dinosaur@usc.edu
> Cc:            wa105@mead.anglia.ac.uk
> Subject:       flexible horizontal ridge in dino restorations, and Baryonyx 
> pic

> I remember seeing in a few dinosaur pictures (I'm afraid I can't cite any 
> specific ones) a 
> horizontal ridge running from shoulder to hip.  I have a jigsaw with a 
> sauropod showing one of 
> these very clearly.  It goes wavy when the foreleg is pointing back and the 
> hindleg forward, so 
> it must be flexible but not stretchy.
> 
> What is this?  A tendon?  A fold of skin, like the vertical ones in Asian 
> rhinos?  A seriously 
> vulnerable major vein?  What is the evidence for the existence of this 
> structure? I cannot think 
> of any living animals with a prominent line in this position.

A few sauropods, notably Rebbachisaurus and Amargasaurus had 
elongated vertebrae that are often portrayed as looking like this.