RE: [RE: galloping sauropods?]

["Stewart, Dwight" <Dwight.Stewart@VLSI.com>]

        -----Original Message-----
        From:   archosaur@usa.net [SMTP:archosaur@usa.net]
        Sent:   Monday, October 26, 1998 11:03 PM
        To:     dinosaur@usc.edu
        Subject:        Re: [RE: galloping sauropods?]

         
        Did deinosaurs even have a glutius maximus?

        I thought that in reptiles, the big leg retractor muscle was the
        caudofemoralis.

        I also figured that this was one of the big reasons why most mammals
have
        rather small, thin tails compared to body size

        Archosaur J

        =============================================
        I don't know; GOOD question!  I'm sure someone on this list DOES
know & will (hopefully) chime in here. :-)  I believe you are correct about
lizards & crocodiles at least.   As far as tails, I think most mammals could
support a more robust tail than they actually have.  Perhaps function has
downsized most mammal tails?  
        Still, it's difficult for me to picture a large saurapod actually
galloping.  I think the point about ankle flexion (or rather, the lack of
it) is pertinent there.  "Fast walking", which is what elephants seem to be
doing seems a better match to saurapod anatomy.  And I'm not convinced adult
saurapods needed to run from anything (I know I asking for it here! :-)).
        About ankle flexion: did  prosaurapods have more flexible ankles
than later saurapods?

        Dwight