“Phat air meets wide gauge” meets color
September 17, 2013
Mark Witton, pterosaur-wrangler, Cthulhu-conjurer, globe-trotting paleo playboy and all-around scientific badass, drew this (and blogged about it):
I liked it, but I thought it could use some color, so I hacked a crude version in GIMP and sent it to Mark with a, “Hey, please put this on a t-shirt so I can throw money at you” plea. Lo and behold, he did just that.
You can get your own from Mark’s Zazzle store. And apparently he will have more sauropod-themed merch coming soon.
Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week 
September 18, 2013 at 2:21 am
Good to see the necks all nicely near vertical.
I have determined that in order to drink water without their proximal-most cervical vertebra buckling, they had to drink very carefully. Let us imagine happening upon a trio of Alasmosaurus perched at water’s edge on their tails and heels like three-legged stools, thumb-claws scratching their hips, heads plunged vertically into the water like elephants’ trunks.
Before you object, you tell me what all that ventral caudal musculature was for, if not to tip them back upright, afterward.
September 18, 2013 at 2:49 am
I assume you’re joking, but for the benefit of any newcomers: sauropods and most other non-avian dinosaurs had big tails in part because of the caudofemoralis muscle, which provided most of the power stroke for the hindlimb in walking and running. Most mammals have dinky tails because we shifted our femur-retracting muscles from our tails to our hips. For more about the caudofemoralis, check out this great post on dinosaur butts.
Other things a sauropod could do with a powerful caudofemoralis besides walk:
– with the feet planted, and firing the muscle only on one side, swing the tail;
– rear up on its hind legs;
– climb (i.e., walk up rugged terrain, not brachiate through the trees);
– push forward forcefully, which might have been useful in dominance contests or for shoving trees over.
Probably some others I haven’t thought of.
September 18, 2013 at 5:40 am
No, let’s not have any hippy sauropods that look like they are about to break into a rendition of I Am The Walrus brachiating among the trees. That would be too much.
September 18, 2013 at 5:46 am
I think the black-and-white version has more impact, maybe because the colors draw attention away from the sauropods.
September 18, 2013 at 7:37 pm
I agree. Black on a red shirt would be perfect.
September 18, 2013 at 9:07 pm
Well, suggest it to Mark. I don’t know if he’ll make a shirt for every suggested variation, but (1) he might, and (2) at worst he might want you to gin up some support before he goes to the trouble.