Re: Spinosaurus sail

[Waylon Rowley <whte_rbt_obj@yahoo.com>]

--- Oberon <oberon@box.com> wrote:
> Mickey Mortimer wrote:
> >And what is your estimate based on? Keep in mind
> the largest known dorsal 
> of Spinosaurus is over 190% as large as the largest
> dorsal of 9.1 meter long 
> Baryonyx. Nothing's better to estimate total length
> with than vertebral 
> length. Would be odd if such large vertebra came
> from an animal only 45% 
> longer than Baryonyx, as you suggest. 

I just wanted to insert my 2 cents worth here. The
fact that we have at least 3 juvenile/subadult
spinosaurid specimens is, at least to me, suspicious.
Is there any possibility that the lack of fused
neurocentral sutures is merely an adaptation these
animals may have evolved to cope with
lateral/anteroposterior stresses placed on the neural
spines? If you have a row of ~6 foot spines on your
back, and you take a blow from a predator or in
intraspecific battle, it might be best to have a
weakly flexible base to absord some of that energy,
instead of snapping the bone. Are there any other
juvenile features that can confirm or deny this in the
known specimens? 

Cheers,

Waylon Rowley  

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