Death poses

["Julia Heathcote" <astrodon@hotmail.com>]

Hello list,

Can anyone tell me what the general consensus is on why a lot of dinosaurs 
are preserved with their heads and necks bent backwards to lie along their 
spines?  A friend and I have been discussing this in the context of a cast 
of *Compsognathus* from Solnhofen.  I was under the impression that it was a 
result of decay and shrinkage of the tendons along the spine after death, 
but my friend believes it was due to the increased salinity in the Solnhofen 
lagoon.  I also only recall seeing this feature in theropod skeletons.  This 
may be a bias towards showing only theropod dinosaurs in their death 
position in museum displays!

Needless to say, the friendship is not dependent on the answer!

Julia

Julia Heathcote
Gonville and Caius College
University of Cambridge
Cambridge CB2 1TA


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