Fw: Liopleurodon size

["Demetrios M. Vital" <vita0015@tc.umn.edu>]

> Gavin Rymill wrote:

> >Furthermore, any "maximum" length for a known dinosaur is likely to have
> >less than any species achieved in life. I can't believe for one second
that
> >all the skeletons found just happen to represent the biggest member that
> >ever lived of each species!!

> Using modern reptiles as a template, dinosaur species most likely kept on
> growing throughout their lives, but once they hit adulthood the rate of
> growth slowed.  I don't know if small theropods and enantiornithines
> followed this rule, or, if like modern birds (and mammals), individual
> growth ceased at a certain point.

Kristina Currie Rogers' essay in the _Scientific Book of Dinosaurs_ has the
growth curve of all genera except Dryosaurus flatten out, not quite as fast
as that of modern birds, but still showing that growth ends at a certain
level of maturity.

According to this source, basing dinosaur growth off of modern non-avian
reptiles can be misleading.

 Peace out, Demetrios Vital