Re: Resting Sauropods

[PTJN@aol.com]

In a message dated 7/14/98 1:44:35 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
david_krentz@fa.disney.com writes:

<< While we're all letting our noodles drift from little therapods to Giant 
 Sauropods I'd like some to hear some educated  guesses regarding how they 
 rested.  Did they lie down, or stand up. >>

I would not hesitate to depict a herd of resting sauropods, some lying on
their stomach and others on their side.  Like the rearing Brachiosaur in the
American Museum of Natural History, there's no proof they did it, but there's
no proof they couldn't do it either.

 <<How could they stand up if  they were lying on their sides?>>

I've noticed that elephants appear help themselves up when lying on their side
by swinging their trunk in circles, apparently creating a torquing force that
helps roll them on to their stomach.  I think it's likely that Sauropods could
use similar forces to roll themselves from their side to their stomach by
raising their neck and tail slightly and moving them towards the feet.
Because of the mass and length of the neck and tail, I think that, unlike
elephants which only have their trunks to aid them, this could be a slower and
more controlled process for sauropods.