dinosaur neck length -Forwarded

[JNorton@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

** Reply Requested by 2/7/2106 (Sunday) **

        Date:  11/07/1995   7:50 am  (Tuesday)  
        From:  James Norton
          To:  Vertebrate Paleontology Group
     Subject:  dinosaur neck length


I didn't mean to postulate that bipedalism evolved to enhance grasping of
prey, but rather that, once true bipedalism had been attained, the
grasping of prey may have been enhanced by a longer neck.  The early
forms, as suggested by Jerry Harris, may have been facultative bipeds
and the long neck may not have been fully expressed.  Also, by "long
neck" I mean a neck that is longer than that of a quadrupedal carnivore of
the same size.  I seems to me that extinct bipedal carnivores and modern
extant quadupedal carnivores have distinctly different solutions to the
problem of catching and holding onto prey.  I would postulate that part of
the difference is a relatively longer neck in the bipedal version.

The herbivores' necks were longer for a different reason, namely,
to facilitate the acquisition of food at a distance, either vertically or
horizontally.  The "sphere" or "hemisphere" within which potential food
could be found would be increased by lengthening the neck.  The
extreme neck lengths of the sauropods would not have been useful for
an active predator.  Predator neck lengths would have been limited by
the compromise between increasing the "foraging" radius and
decreasing maneuverability.

I would appreciate hearing from others on this topic.  Thanks for the
feedback!