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"Squishy Joints" May Have Helped Dinosaurs Grow To Giant Sizes

Posted by samzenpus on from the bigger-they-are dept.

benonemusic writes "A new study in the journal PLOS ONE suggests that dinosaurs reached gigantic proportions relative to mammals because of differences in their cartilage, making their joints squishier and able to sustain greater amounts of force. Other factors contributed to dinosaurs' larger sizes, including their lighter, air-sac-filled skeletons, and some researchers point out that the sizes of some dinosaurs and mammals were approximately equal, so anatomical differences between cartilage in dinosaurs and mammals may not directly explain why some dinosaurs grew to larger sizes."

4 of 56 comments (clear)

  1. Wrong question by Joce640k · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "anatomical differences between cartilage in dinosaurs and mammals may not directly explain why some dinosaurs grew to larger sizes."

    Anatomical differences are never going to explain "why", they can only explain "how".

    "Why" is easy to answer - survival of the biggest.

    --
    No sig today...
  2. They smoked squishy joints too. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The huge joints that dinosaurs would have rolled would be quite squishy and sticky. They lit them at volcanoes of course. Which eventually led the the dinosaurs becoming too lazy and destructive(the joints would start forest fires) to serve their alien overlords so they were killed off.

    1. Re:They smoked squishy joints too. by drainbramage · · Score: 4, Funny

      And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is why they called it the Stoned Age.

      --
      No brain, no pain.
  3. Critical thinking missing by abhisri · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Evolutionary paths.

    Insects on average are smaller than most mammals. Mammals too come in all sizes.

    Analysis of air trapped in amber fossil shows that oxygen ratio in that period was higher, which may have permitted evolutionary path of such giant creatures.
    http://minerals.cr.usgs.gov/gips/na/amber.html

    Squishy joints? Considering how cause and effect get frequently confused, it seems more likely that the joints may have became "squishy" in order to support the larger size permitted by the oxygen-rich high-metabolism environment, not necessarily actually the cause.