Posted on 06/01/2005 10:58:46 AM PDT by Pharmboy
The discovery of a short-necked dinosaur from the Late Jurassic period has turned on its head accepted theory that the long-necks ruled the roost, scientists said on Wednesday.
The skeleton of the pocket-sized dinosaur -- which was less than 10 meters (yards) long -- discovered in Patagonia goes against the grain of increased body size and neck length that typified sauropod dinosaurs.
"The long neck is a particular hallmark of sauropod dinosaurs and is usually regarded as a key feeding adaptation," scientists from the Bavarian State Collection for Palaeontology and Geology in Munich wrote in the science journal Nature.
They said the discovery of the short-necked specimen from a group of dinosaurs known as dicraeosaurids demonstrated a clear counter trend and "indicates that the ecology of dicraeosaurids might have differed considerably from that of other sauropods."
And in case of any confusion, the scientists led by Oliver Rauhut stress that the specimen is that of an adult not an infant or adolescent.
The researchers said they believed the short-necked dinosaurs of southern Latin America -- whose closest known relatives are to be found in Africa -- may have evolved to deal with specific feeding requirements.
"The tendency toward neck shortening in dicraeosaurids indicated that these ... were progressively adapting for low browsing and might have been specialized on specific food sources," they wrote.
They said it seemed the pocket dinosaur was adapted to feeding on plants one to two meters in height in contrast to their long-necked cousins the diplodocus which could feed off a far wider variety of vegetation.
"Whereas dicraeosaurids became specialized feeders by shortening neck length and thus apparently limiting absolute body size, diplodocids solved this problem in a radically different way, by greatly increasing neck length and thus potential feeding range," the scientists said.
Ping...if this interests you.
Hey! No need to insult dinosaurs!
Couldn't we just ask him what he eats?
Curious. It has an amazing resemblance to a red "X". :)
Long-necked dinosaurs remind me of fishermen with boats.
But what about the pencil necked dinosaur??
You know what they say, long neck.....
We've known about this for years..........
I almost posted a Tom Harkin photo, but same difference.
;-)
Call PETA! It'll want a full investigation at taxpayers expense.
Is there ever a supply of tall plants without low lying
plants? I mean, if high neckers can survive, wouldn't the
low neckers survive also??? I can understand only high neckers surviving in area of palm trees only, but if
both plants are available wouldn't both survive...
but...suppose the short neckers, ate the roots of the
long , tall plants, wouldn't that eventually kill off
the long neckers...or if the long neckers could reach
down far enough to eat some of the short neckers food, they
could kill off the short neckers...but then, the
short neckers, while the long neckers were reaching down for
the short neckers food, could evolve teeth, to cut the
throats of the long neckers, and wipe out the long neckers,,
or the long neckers could evolve large feet to stomp the
short neckers, but then the short neckers could evolve
spikes on their back, so the long neckers would get
"punji" sticked to death, but then the long neckers could
get lighter, and jump, and eventually fly away from the
short neckers, and get food that the short neckers couldn't
possibly reach, but then....
huh?
I saw some long necks recently..down at the local lover's lane.
Cheers,
PB
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