Nothing in the dinosaur world was quite like sauropods. They were the biggest animals ever to lumber across the land, consuming everything in sight. Their necks were much longer than a giraffe's, their tails just about as long.
Scientists are redoubling their study of the unusual biology of these amazing plant-eaters. By what physiological strategy were the largest of sauropod species able to thrive over a span of 140 million years? How did they possibly get enough to eat to grow so hefty, to lengths of 15 to 150 feet and estimated weights of up to 70 tons? A mere elephant has to eat 18 hours a day to get its fill.
For more than seven years, a group of German and Swiss scientists tested the limits of body size in terrestrial vertebrates. Findings by other scientists have been reviewed, then tested with new experiments and more observations.
"We actually have been re-engineering a sauropod," said Martin Sander of the University of Bonn. "We are looking for physical advantages it had over other large animals and assessing various hypotheses."
One clear explanation has emerged: These were the ultimate fast-food gourmands. Reaching all around with their long necks, these giants gulped down enormous meals. With no molars in their relatively small heads, they were unequipped for serious chewing. They let the digestive juices of their capacious bodies break down their heaping intake while they just kept packing away more chow.
The German-Swiss team has now weighed in with a comprehensive book, "Biology of the Sauropod Dinosaurs" (Indiana University Press). Sander is one of the book's editors and also guest curator of a major exhibition, "The World's Largest Dinosaurs," on exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan until Jan. 2.
A centerpiece of the show will be a life-size model of a 60-foot female Mamenchisaurus, whose fossilized bones were discovered in China.
