Re: plesiosaur offspring (weak necks?)

[Michael Habib <mbh3q@virginia.edu>]

How much lateral bending is possible in plesiosaur necks?

Reason for question: The first extant long-necked aquatic critters I could
think of were snake-neck turtles, which tend to hold their necks in a
lateral S-curve when moving on land (brings head closer to the torso, and
thus decreases distance from the fulcrum).  These are a poor analog, I know,
but I'm still curious...

--Mike Habib


On 10/28/03 12:12 PM, "Thomas de Wilde" <jedimr_thomas@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Hello again,    
> 
> considering again plesiosaur necks must have been strong enough. Since
> pregnant females came to land to lay their eggs (as turtles still do).
> I can't imagine that the neck was on the ground all the time when they were
> "walking", since that should have caused some burn injuries.
> 
> It must have been hard to keep the neck up, but they must have been able to do
> it.
> 
> Cheers
>   Thomas
> 
> 
>