Boards.ie

**Adam Khor** · 06-12-2011, 21:19

An interesting discovery; Rapetosaurus, the Malagasy titanosaur, had the largest osteoderms of any dinosaur known... but they weren´t armor, as was believed. Actually they were hollow, and may have served as a mineral storing device, to help the animal survive during drought and keep growing when food was scarce.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/no...in-skin-bones/

**Galvasean** · 06-12-2011, 22:34

Read about this on Dinosaur Tracking Blog the other day. Pretty good theory. Ostederms like the ones on sauropods struck me as being very ineffective as far as armour was concerned.

**Adam Khor** · 06-12-2011, 23:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galvasean

Read about this on Dinosaur Tracking Blog the other day. Pretty good theory. Ostederms like the ones on sauropods struck me as being very ineffective as far as armour was concerned.

Agreed. One would expect the sides, belly and neck to be better protected anyways; few predators were tall enough to bite their back and Majungasaurus in particular (Rapetosaurus' main enemy it seems) actually had very short legs

Rubecula · 07-12-2011, 18:05

Very interesting. I have an Idea too. Perhaps they helped by providing floatation for those migrations when they crossed rivers? Unlikely, but hey this is the place to put your way out ideas isn't it?

And No I don't think they helped the beast float, just stay the right way up in deep water.

**Adam Khor** · 07-12-2011, 19:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rubecula

Very interesting. I have an Idea too. Perhaps they helped by providing floatation for those migrations when they crossed rivers? Unlikely, but hey this is the place to put your way out ideas isn't it?

And No I don't think they helped the beast float, just stay the right way up in deep water.

Interesting idea. I remember seeing depictions of Rapetosaurus as a semi-aquatic animal.

06-12-2011, 21:19	#1
Adam Khor Moderator Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 2,578 Adverts \| Friends Mod: Palaeontology, Zoology	Rapetosaurus had world's largest osteoderms An interesting discovery; Rapetosaurus, the Malagasy titanosaur, had the largest osteoderms of any dinosaur known... but they weren´t armor, as was believed. Actually they were hollow, and may have served as a mineral storing device, to help the animal survive during drought and keep growing when food was scarce. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/no...in-skin-bones/

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

06-12-2011, 22:34	#2
Galvasean Moderator Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Hell's Creek Posts: 32,284 Adverts \| Friends Mod: Palaeontology, Transformers	Read about this on Dinosaur Tracking Blog the other day. Pretty good theory. Ostederms like the ones on sauropods struck me as being very ineffective as far as armour was concerned.

07-12-2011, 18:05	#4
Rubecula Registered User Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Anglesey, North Wales. Where mankind fears to go. Posts: 2,659 Adverts \| Friends	Very interesting. I have an Idea too. Perhaps they helped by providing floatation for those migrations when they crossed rivers? Unlikely, but hey this is the place to put your way out ideas isn't it? And No I don't think they helped the beast float, just stay the right way up in deep water.