Re: Whales v. Dinosaurs

[jamolnar@juno.com]

On Wed, 22 Apr 1998 07:38:18 -0500 ashmidt@flash.net (Ann Schmidt)
writes:
>I always thought largest meant heaviest.  In which case it would have 
>to be
>the blue whale.
Agreed. But I was just clarifying things.  People mean different things
by the word large.

>>Blue Whale, 120 feet long
>Where did you read this?  In all of the whale books I've read, none 
>said
>the blue whale was any longer then 110 feet.

I got this from either Greg Paul, when he wrote about record sauropods in
the Dinosaur Report, or from a whale book I can't recall.  Perhaps one by
Richard Ellis or Roger Payne.  Perhaps Smithsonian can verify.

>>The candidates for heaviest animals include:
>>Blue Whale,  to 130 U.S. tons
>Where did you read this? I have several books that say the Blue whale 
>can
>weigh up too 200 tons!

I've never read of any Blue whales over 130 tons.  Again, maybe
Smithsonian can verify.

>>Amphicoelias, sauropod, estimated 100 to 150 tonnes (based on one
>>vertebra)
>>Argentinosaurus, sauropod, estimated 80 to 100 tonnes (based on less 
>than
>>a dozen bones.)
>snip<

>And so, if you go by weight the blue whale is the biggest animal in 
>the world.

Only if we verify the weight of over 130 tons for the whale; and not if
we find enough of Amphicoelias to verify its weight as being heavier than
the whale's

Judy Molnar
Education Associate, Virginia Living Museum
vlmed@juno.com
jamolnar@juno.com
All questions are valid; all answers are tentative.

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