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Showing results for tags 'neck'.
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Could T-rex’s “useless forearms” be competing with head and neck musculature?
Sightreader posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
OK, some naive, pure speculation about those “useless forearms” on large theropods (T-rex, abelisaurs, etc…) Could it be that, in theropods, arms muscles actually compete with head and neck muscles for attachment space on the shoulder girdle? I can’t answer this because I have no idea how the muscles are laid out for theropods. Is there even such a thing as neck muscles that attach to the shoulder girdle, or are these completely unrelated muscle systems? Would reducing arm musculature provide any sort of advantage to the head and neck of theropods? My thought is that, having the combination of having powerful jaws capable of securing a grip on massive victims, then having the necessary neck and head strength needed to either wrench around or yank big chunks off the dangerously powerful prey of the time might be such a key advantage that it would be worth giving up your arms for. This would not mean, then, that their forearms are necessarily “useless”, which might explain why some of these tiny arms remain as well-muscled as they can be (without sacrificing head or neck power). In addition, I heard somewhere that weight and volume grow by the CUBE of size while muscle strength only grows by the SQUARE of size (that is, by the area of a muscle cross-section). I don’t know if it’s really that simple, but it would mean that, as these theropod heads and necks get bigger and bigger, they would need proportionally a LOT more neck musculature to catch up with the faster growth in head weight and inertia. Of course, this would not explain why those tiny, wacky alvarezsaurids have small forearms… that would have to be a totally different selection pressure. Does this make any sense at all or did I just make a complete fool of myself? Be gentle… I’m obviously new at this, lol!- 18 replies
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From the album: BONES
This is a cervical (neck) vertebra - a C3 or C4 - from a Pleistocene camelid from Gilchrist County, Florida. The species name is uncertain, but lamine (llamas) camels were the dominant species in the Florida Pleistocene. More images at: http://www.thefossil...be/#entry599855© -Harry Pristis 2015
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- florida fossil
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Are there ways to differentiate long neck plesiosaur bones vs. pliosaur bones*(specifically vertebrae from the kimmeridge clay in this case), other than by size, in some cases? *or any of the paddle bones
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DdWhat bone is this? It looks like the vertebra that attaches to the skull, which I thought was the basioccipital bone, but looking it up i see that the first vertebra is called the atlas, not basioccipital, which has me very confused? I looked a few places and haven’t found the connection between the 2(no pun intended:) Is the basioccipital bone PART of the atlas? I didn’t think there was anything between the skull and vertebrae. As far as the bone in question here, this IS the vertebra that connects directly to the skull, right??? ..whichever one It.
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- atlas
- basioccipital
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