Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to Carnivora. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
  • Pages:
  • 1
  • 2
Spinophorosaurus nigerensis v Acrocanthosaurus atokensis
Topic Started: Aug 3 2013, 10:14 PM (3,533 Views)
Taipan
Member Avatar
Administrator

Spinophorosaurus nigerensis
Spinophorosaurus (meaning 'spine-bearing lizard') is a genus of early sauropod dinosaur from Niger. It was recovered in a rock formation belonging to the lower part of the Irhazer Group, the age of which is unknown but may be Middle Jurassic or older. It is unusual for having spiked osteoderms, probably from the tail, similar to the famed thagomizer of stegosaurs. The type species, S. nigerensis, was described by Remes et al. in 2009. A study of its braincase showed that its neuroanatomy was in some ways intermediate between that of basal sauropodomorphs and that of neosauropods. Size est. Length: 14 meters: Height: 4 meters: Mass: 15 tonnes.

Posted Image

Acrocanthosaurus atokensis
Acrocanthosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur that existed in what is now North America during the Aptian and early Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous. Like most dinosaur genera, Acrocanthosaurus contains only a single species, A. atokensis. Its fossil remains are found mainly in the U.S. states of Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas, although teeth attributed to Acrocanthosaurus have been found as far east as Maryland. Acrocanthosaurus was a bipedal predator. As the name suggests, it is best known for the high neural spines on many of its vertebrae, which most likely supported a ridge of muscle over the animal's neck, back and hips. Acrocanthosaurus was one of the largest theropods, approaching 12 meters (40 ft) in length, and weighing up to 6–7 metric tons (6.5–7.5 short tons). Large theropod footprints discovered in Texas may have been made by Acrocanthosaurus, although there is no direct association with skeletal remains. Recent discoveries have elucidated many details of its anatomy, allowing for specialized studies focusing on its brain structure and forelimb function. Acrocanthosaurus was the largest theropod in its ecosystem and likely an apex predator which possibly preyed on large sauropods and ornithopods.

Posted Image

______________________________________________________________________________


The Dino King
Aug 3 2013, 03:02 AM
Spinophorosaurus v Giganotosaurus
Carcharadon
Aug 3 2013, 01:54 PM
Spinophorosaurus vs Acrocanthosaurus


Based on T-Rex v Spinophorosaurus thread, lets try Acrocanthosaurus first!
Edited by Taipan, Aug 3 2013, 10:20 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Replies:
Taipan
Member Avatar
Administrator

Acrocanthosaurus
Jan 16 2018, 09:26 PM
I'm sure my prejudice is obvious based on the name, but I sincerely do think the Acro can take it. It had a powerful enough build for an impressive charge, and even with a club it would take forever for a sauropod to take on a predator of that size, and it (the sauropod) has plenty of vulnerable spots and could be bled out by a carcharodontosaurid that was known to hunt similar prey. If I were to be bolder I'd say these two would be almost in a predator-prey relationship, even with a fully grown sauropod.


Hi Acrocanthosaurus, I think most share your confidence in your user name in this matchup.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Ausar
Member Avatar
Xi-miqa-can! Xi-miqa-can! Xi-miqa-can!
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
It should be noted that under further scrutiny, there is actually no evidence that Spinophorosaurus had a thagomizer.

Vidal et al. (2015)
 
Spinophorosaurus nigerensis is one of the most complete and better preserved specimens of a primitive sauropod known from the remains of a single individual. This makes it a great model for studying the early evolutionary stages of sauropod biomechanics. Some of its most noticeable autapomorphies are its overlapping distal chevrons and a putative thagomizer. We performed a photogrammetric scan of the bones and digitally manipulated the virtual skeleton to find the osteological limits of motion imposed by these chevrons. In the first 20 caudal vertebrae, vertebrae pairs may deflect for up to 20º before osteological stop in extension and 8-10º in lateral flexion, suggesting the in vivo dorsal and lateral range of motion was limited rather by soft tissue. Flexion is limited by the rather large chevrons, which contact with less than 5º of deflection. The motion in the distal region is dorsoventrally limited, as in other taxa with overlapping chevrons (dromaeosaurids or ankylosaurids). Additionally, the hypaxial caudal region of Spinophorosaurus is greatly developed: the anteriormost chevrons are very elongated and the anteriormost transverse processes are dorsally elevated and angled, indicating powerful hypaxial muscles. Also, the first twenty caudals become progressively elongated, as in diplodocids. An analysis in progress of the dermal ossifications originally proposed as a thagomizer suggests they are not osteoderms at all, thus there is no evidence for such thagomizer. However, the limited proximal flexion, powerful hypaxial musculature, elongated caudal vertebrae and the overlapping chevrons appear to be a single, perhaps incomplete, functional complex of unclear function.
The specialized tail of Spinophorosaurus nigerensis (Sauropoda. Middle Jurassic) and the osteological limits on its range of motion

In a way, I think most sauropods are some of those animals that may seem weaponless, but under further scrutiny actually do have surprisingly dangerous weapons...that I probably still won't rate over the weapons of some other similar sized, unambiguously well armed animals (I think horses, baleen whales, and at least most ratites also qualify). In this case, the latter is an elephant-sized, rather powerfully built predator with a ~130 centimeter skull filled with biological steak knives for teeth (although, there's a book by Kenneth Carpenter that claims that Fran's skull is 147.3 cm long; where did that come from?).
Edited by Ausar, Jan 17 2018, 08:56 AM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
« Previous Topic · Dinosauria Interspecific Conflict · Next Topic »
Add Reply
  • Pages:
  • 1
  • 2

Find this theme on Forum2Forum.net & ZNR exclusively.