Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Dinosaurs hold their head up high

No, no - I'm not referring to Members of Parliament here - it will be some time before those dinosaurs can hold their heads up.

I am, in fact, referring to the big lizards from a long time ago. Yes, Norman Tebbit. No, sorry, I mean this story out today that the old idea that dinosaurs with long necks (like the diplodocus, the brachiosaurus and the apatosaurus) used to hold their necks out in front of them was incorrect.

I'd never thought about it before but it's obvious really. The amount of muscle power required to keep your head from sagging down when held out in front of you on a very long neck would be excessive to say the least. Far better to be like the giraffe and balance your neck and head vertically up from your body.

After all the long neck has a purpose - to reach high things for example - it isn't there to look good by making elegant swooping motions. I guess they'll have to remake one million years BC, otherwise it might be historically inaccurate.

1 comment:

Adrian Windisch said...

So Jurassic Park was wrong! And I thought it was so real.