Re: sauropods' lifespan

[David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>]

Oh, the original was addressed to the list instead of just to me. So I'll 
publish my reply:

> > Living up to 100 years - just a popular-science guess or any 
> > _references_
> > for such a statement?
>
> There is no direct evidence. All sauropod bones that have so far examined
> histologically belong to adult animals that were, as far as I remember, at
> most 50 years old.
>
> It's probably not impossible, however. Whales can live well over 200 
> years.

Furthermore...

> I am recalling a growth ring study with a?time scale calibration to?the 
> rate of growth in modern reptiles.? As growth rings never converged, it 
> supported that sauropods grew throughout their lives. It would have also 
> made an estimate of the age of the larger ones possible.? The reference 
> escapes me...

(Wow, line breaks of an exotic operating system miscoded as question 
marks... impressive!)

There are plenty of sauropod bones where the rings do converge and form an 
External Fundamental System indicative of adulthood. A few months ago I 
cited such a paper here... Sander and someone, 2000, Paleobiology, on 
Tendaguru sauropods.