Re: Sauropod drinking

[William Hinchman <bsaurus@bellatlantic.net>]

Richard W Travsky wrote:

> What's the largest contemporary animal that obtains its water this way?
> 
> rich


The largest contemporary animal I know of that gets all it's water needs
from vegetation is the Gorilla (in the wild - NOT in a zoo environment.)
Adult Male Gorilla's eat 40-50 lbs of vegetation per day, using the
moisture contined therein to satisfy their water needs.  However, this
represents a mammalian metabolism, probably far distant from what we
might conceive for a sauropod.  Water/Food requirements would of course
depend on metabolism, a subject much debated on this list and elsewhere.
Without metabolic data, no real valid estimate of water needs can be
made, but it's always fun to speculate.

Bill Hinchman