Re: Sauropods (was: Iguanodontidae and Theropod Boredom)

["Matthew Bonnan" <mbonnan@hotmail.com>]

qilongia@yahoo.com wrote:
>   And is there anyway we can have a thread on sauropods that
> doesn't involve some historical they were landwalkers-not-swimmers idea or
> anything about their necks... :)

Well, we could talk about sauropod locomotion, what they did with their fore
and hindfeet, etc. =)  'Course, this is stuff I hope to publish on sometime
in the near future, but I know ... promises, promises. =)  For those of you
going to SVP this year, I will be presenting some of my thin plate splines
work on sauropod humeri at the sauropod symposium.

Thin plate splines is a statistical method for determining statistical shape
difference between objects, in this case, dinosaur bones, in 2-D.  (A 3-D
approach is being developed).  This is not my method; it was developed by a
statistician named Fred L. Bookstein, and modified into a series of programs
by James F. Rohlf and Dennis Slice.

Using their shape analysis software, I was able to look at where and how
humerus shape differs among Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, and Camarasaurus.  Yes,
everyone knows that Apato, Diplo, and Cam are different from each other in
basic terms like robustness, thickness, etc., but the thin plate splines
allowed me to "see" other morphological differences, like expansion of
certain anatomical areas in some sauropods and not others.

So, if y'all are looking for something to listen to at SVP on sauropods that
is not about land/water or necks, don't say I didn't warn ya. =)

As far as dinoguy's lament:

"I know that this doesn't seem very scientific, but I am bothered by the
amount of diversity of such large creatures."

I agree: it's not like what we see in megaherbivores today.  I'm not
bothered, but very intrigued.  Sauropod size, movement, and co-existence
were part of my dissertation, which should be available by the end of this
year on microfilm (hopefully by Sept).  I only focused on Apato, Diplo, and
Cam, but it may be interesting to the members on the list anyhow.

Well, back to work, but thought I'd chime in on the saurpod thing. =)  I
can't resist: hook, line, and sinker.

Matt Bonnan
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com