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Tagged as: biology. zoology. taxonomy. science. sauropod. dinosaur. reptile. nature. the fossil record. evolution. sexual selection.

Sex and Dinosaur Necks Yesterday I wrote about the possible mating mechanics of immense sauropod dinosaurs such as Brachiosaurus and Argentinosaurus. But there’s more to mating than the act itself. It is not as if two Diplodocus nonchalantly walked up to each other, had a quickie, and plodded off to feed on a nearby patch of ferns. There was probably some kind of behavioral lead-up to copulation—a way for one sex to strut its stuff and the other to be choosy about a mating partner. With this in mind, one paleontologist proposed that sex might hold the secret of why sauropods evolved such long, gorgeous necks. The idea that mating behavior might have something to do with sauropod anatomy was inspired by giraffes. Scientists have been puzzling over why giraffes have such spectacular necks for over a century and a half. The most popular notion is that the long necks of the mammals are an adaptation for feeding high up in the trees where competing herbivores can’t reach, but in 1996 zoologists Robert Simmons and Lue Scheepers proposed something different. Read More

Sex and Dinosaur Necks

Yesterday I wrote about the possible mating mechanics of immense sauropod dinosaurs such as Brachiosaurus and Argentinosaurus. But there’s more to mating than the act itself. It is not as if two Diplodocus nonchalantly walked up to each other, had a quickie, and plodded off to feed on a nearby patch of ferns. There was probably some kind of behavioral lead-up to copulation—a way for one sex to strut its stuff and the other to be choosy about a mating partner. With this in mind, one paleontologist proposed that sex might hold the secret of why sauropods evolved such long, gorgeous necks.

The idea that mating behavior might have something to do with sauropod anatomy was inspired by giraffes. Scientists have been puzzling over why giraffes have such spectacular necks for over a century and a half. The most popular notion is that the long necks of the mammals are an adaptation for feeding high up in the trees where competing herbivores can’t reach, but in 1996 zoologists Robert Simmons and Lue Scheepers proposed something different.

Read More

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