• Re: Another question about small T-rex arms

    From Trolidan7@21:1/5 to erik simpson on Wed Dec 20 14:39:55 2023
    On 12/19/23 13:36, erik simpson wrote:
    On 12/18/23 10:43 PM, Sight Reader wrote:
    On Monday, December 18, 2023 at 9:31:59 AM UTC-7, erik simpson wrote:
    On 12/18/23 4:57 AM, jillery wrote:
    On Sat, 16 Dec 2023 19:46:48 -0800 (PST), Sight Reader
    <thesigh...@gmail.com> wrote:

    OK, I thought I’d sneak this question in before time runs out for
    this group!

    I can’t remember where I heard this - I don’t think I heard it
    directly - but somebody was speculating that selection pressure to
    keep increasing both size and power of the head and neck of T-rex,
    abelisauroids and other big theropods required such extensive
    musculature that they simply ran out of room to attach significant
    arm muscles.

    Does that even make sense? Would that imply that the shoulder
    girdle would be getting devoted more and more to attachment sites
    for neck (or even head) muscles rather than those for arms?

    Thanks!


    I recall someone suggesting that reducing the weight of the arms
    helped to balance their massive heads. OTOH I also recall a lecture
    by Robert Bakker who pointed out that the arms' musculature is well
    developed, despite its relatively short size.

    And then I recall a joke about a triceratops mocking a T.rex by
    challenging it to a push-up contest.
    The Carcharodontosauridae (see Wiki) all had reduced arms, with the more >>> highly derived carnivores resembling Tyrannosaurids. They aren't
    closely related, both in space and time. As far as is known they were
    restricted to the southern hemisphere. The short (but muscular) arms
    are an example of convergence, but the evolutionary advantages are still >>> controversial (perhaps used in mating?).

    Hey everyone, thanks for responding!

    The well-muscled nature of what small arms remain is one of the
    reasons this theory gives me pause for thought.

    I would suppose that, due to the formidable size of the many of the
    prey animals (not to mention competing carnivores), reducing the head
    and neck size in predators like T-rex and abelisaurids was not an option.

    I would also suppose that, given the tremendous size and strength of
    potential prey, having powerful jaws capable of securing such large
    animals, then having the head and neck power needed to wrench around
    such a powerful animal around no matter how much it might struggle,
    might prove to be a decisive advantage to these predators.

    Now, I believe that the weight of the head and neck (and thus, I would
    think, momentum) grows by the CUBE of size, while muscle power only
    grows by the square of size (that is, the cross section of the
    muscle). So, as these heads and necks got bigger and bigger,
    proportionately way more musculature was needed to get the same kind
    of acceleration possible with in smaller theropods.

    So, I would see the argument going something like this: it’s not that
    the arms are “not important” (the well-muscled nature of what arms
    exist would be testament to this).  Instead, it’s that the arms are
    somehow competing for the same attachment space (on the shoulder
    girdle) as neck muscles, and the pressure to get a stronger head and
    neck muscles is so vital for survival that it’s worth sacrificing the
    arms that are kinda “in the way” of space needed for neck muscles.

    What I don’t know is if the shoulder girdle and even be used in this
    way? Do head and neck muscles actually attach to the shoulder girdle
    at all?  Is it even possible to increase head and neck power by
    reducing arm musculature - or do the muscles that power heads and
    necks attach at completely different locations than those powering arms?
    Sorry for the duplicates.  Eternal September betrayed me.  Using solani now.

    I guess this is a time to review usenet.

    aioe no longer works, right?

    Is it still possible to use Netscape Navigator
    for usenet?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Kerr-Mudd, John@21:1/5 to erik simpson on Fri Dec 22 12:52:00 2023
    On Thu, 21 Dec 2023 14:05:24 -0800
    erik simpson <eastside.erik@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 12/18/23 10:43 PM, Sight Reader wrote:
    On Monday, December 18, 2023 at 9:31:59 AM UTC-7, erik simpson wrote:
    On 12/18/23 4:57 AM, jillery wrote:
    On Sat, 16 Dec 2023 19:46:48 -0800 (PST), Sight Reader
    <thesigh...@gmail.com> wrote:

    OK, I thought I’d sneak this question in before time runs out for this group!



    []

    I inadvertently deleted your post about missing us, but here's what to
    do to continue:Thunderbird and solani are doing fine for me. I put
    together a cheat sheet so I can do it again if I have to. Here it is:

    If you don't have a gmail account, get one.


    I strongly suggest you ditch google as they're ditching us.
    E-S is free, only registration is required (to discourage spammers and
    trolls).

    If you don't have Thunderbird installed, do that. Go to "Account
    settings" and make sure the news server is "Google Mail - smtp.gmail.com (Default)"

    mail isn't required, just nntp.


    Register with "news.solani.org" (newsgroup client). Again, there are
    others. Eternal September didn't word as well for me.

    Back on Thunderbird, go to Account Setting, then "Account Actions".
    Click on "Add Newsgroup Account", and register your account identifiying "news.solani.org".

    On exiting the "account wizard", you will have an account named "news.solani.org". You can rename it anything you like, such as "GoogleGroups".

    Under "File" on Thunderbird, select "Subscribe", and the list of news
    groups will appear. Pick the ones you want to subscribe to and you're
    ready to go.

    It's very easy on Thunderbird to set up killfiles (they're called
    'Filters"). To use a non-controversial example, Mark varhaegen and his aquarboreal apes (or me, for that matter). Just click on the message,
    and left click on the name. One of the options is "Filter". Select it,
    and he's gone. Under "Tools" in Thunderbird is the filter options and
    you can modify the consequences of the filter, such as putting the
    offender in "junk" or "spam". You can run the filter manually on the
    whole directory and get rid of everything he's ever said.

    Good luck! Feel free to email me with questions and problems.






    --
    Bah, and indeed Humbug.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Ruben Safir@21:1/5 to trolidous@go.com on Fri Jan 12 18:23:38 2024
    Trolidan7 <trolidous@go.com> wrote:
    On 12/19/23 13:36, erik simpson wrote:
    On 12/18/23 10:43 PM, Sight Reader wrote:
    On Monday, December 18, 2023 at 9:31:59???AM UTC-7, erik simpson wrote: >>>> On 12/18/23 4:57 AM, jillery wrote:
    On Sat, 16 Dec 2023 19:46:48 -0800 (PST), Sight Reader
    <thesigh...@gmail.com> wrote:

    OK, I thought I???d sneak this question in before time runs out for >>>>>> this group!

    I can???t remember where I heard this - I don???t think I heard it >>>>>> directly - but somebody was speculating that selection pressure to >>>>>> keep increasing both size and power of the head and neck of T-rex, >>>>>> abelisauroids and other big theropods required such extensive
    musculature that they simply ran out of room to attach significant >>>>>> arm muscles.


    the obvious advantage of small arms is to keep them away from head first combat, and being bitten off.



    Does that even make sense? Would that imply that the shoulder
    girdle would be getting devoted more and more to attachment sites
    for neck (or even head) muscles rather than those for arms?

    Thanks!


    I recall someone suggesting that reducing the weight of the arms
    helped to balance their massive heads. OTOH I also recall a lecture
    by Robert Bakker who pointed out that the arms' musculature is well
    developed, despite its relatively short size.

    And then I recall a joke about a triceratops mocking a T.rex by
    challenging it to a push-up contest.
    The Carcharodontosauridae (see Wiki) all had reduced arms, with the more >>>> highly derived carnivores resembling Tyrannosaurids. They aren't
    closely related, both in space and time. As far as is known they were
    restricted to the southern hemisphere. The short (but muscular) arms
    are an example of convergence, but the evolutionary advantages are still >>>> controversial (perhaps used in mating?).

    Hey everyone, thanks for responding!

    The well-muscled nature of what small arms remain is one of the
    reasons this theory gives me pause for thought.

    I would suppose that, due to the formidable size of the many of the
    prey animals (not to mention competing carnivores), reducing the head
    and neck size in predators like T-rex and abelisaurids was not an option. >>>
    I would also suppose that, given the tremendous size and strength of
    potential prey, having powerful jaws capable of securing such large
    animals, then having the head and neck power needed to wrench around
    such a powerful animal around no matter how much it might struggle,
    might prove to be a decisive advantage to these predators.

    Now, I believe that the weight of the head and neck (and thus, I would
    think, momentum) grows by the CUBE of size, while muscle power only
    grows by the square of size (that is, the cross section of the
    muscle). So, as these heads and necks got bigger and bigger,
    proportionately way more musculature was needed to get the same kind
    of acceleration possible with in smaller theropods.

    So, I would see the argument going something like this: it???s not that
    the arms are ???not important??? (the well-muscled nature of what arms
    exist would be testament to this).?? Instead, it???s that the arms are
    somehow competing for the same attachment space (on the shoulder
    girdle) as neck muscles, and the pressure to get a stronger head and
    neck muscles is so vital for survival that it???s worth sacrificing the
    arms that are kinda ???in the way??? of space needed for neck muscles.

    What I don???t know is if the shoulder girdle and even be used in this
    way? Do head and neck muscles actually attach to the shoulder girdle
    at all??? Is it even possible to increase head and neck power by
    reducing arm musculature - or do the muscles that power heads and
    necks attach at completely different locations than those powering arms?
    Sorry for the duplicates.?? Eternal September betrayed me.?? Using solani
    now.

    I guess this is a time to review usenet.

    aioe no longer works, right?

    Is it still possible to use Netscape Navigator
    for usenet?


    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)