Re: Sauropod browsing energetics

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

On Fri, Mar 25th, 2011 at 8:28 AM, Augusto Haro <augustoharo@gmail.com> wrote:

> May it also be explored whether or not the neck motion required to
> harvest food whicle standing still contributes less to the problematic
> overheating (for large animals) than locomotion?

Am I right in assuming that sauropod remains are extremely rare (or 
non-existent) in areas that 
would have experienced extreme cold? Certainly there have never been any 
sauropod remains 
from the Victorian Early Cretaceous deposits in Australia, which would have 
been at around 75 
degrees south latitude at the time. Sauropod tracks are known from Queensland 
and Western 
Australia at the time, but these are further north (roughly 65 and 55 degrees 
latitude respectively).

If this was the case (and not just a matter of preservational bias), then it 
may suggest that 
sauropods were optimised for dumping heat rather than retaining it.

-- 
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Dann Pigdon
Spatial Data Analyst               Australian Dinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia               http://home.alphalink.com.au/~dannj
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