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Allosaurus

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Moonfire
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« Reply #45 on: December 13, 2009, 02:36:21 am »

Similar conclusions were drawn by another study using finite element analysis on an Allosaurus skull. According to their biomechanical analysis, the skull was very strong but had a relatively small bite force. By using jaw muscles only, it could produce a bite force of 805 to 2,148 N, less than the values for alligators (13,000 N), lions (4,167 N), and leopards (2,268 N), but the skull could withstand nearly 55,500 N of vertical force against the tooth row. The authors suggested that Allosaurus used its skull like a hatchet against prey, attacking open-mouthed, slashing flesh with its teeth, and tearing it away without splintering bones, unlike Tyrannosaurus, which is thought to have been capable of damaging bones. They also suggested that the architecture of the skull could have permitted the use of different strategies against different prey; the skull was light enough to allow attacks on smaller and more agile ornithopods, but strong enough for high-impact ambush attacks against larger prey like stegosaurids and sauropods.[49] Their interpretations were challenged by other researchers, who found no modern analogues to a hatchet attack and considered it more likely that the skull was
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Moonfire
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« Reply #46 on: December 13, 2009, 02:36:38 am »

strong to compensate for its open construction when absorbing the stresses from struggling prey.[82] The original authors noted that Allosaurus itself has no modern equivalent, that the tooth row is well-suited to such an attack, and that articulations in the skull cited by their detractors as problematic actually helped protect the palate and lessen stress.[83] Another possibility for handling large prey is that theropods like Allosaurus were "flesh grazers" which could take bites of flesh out of living sauropods that were sufficient to sustain the predator so it would not have needed to expend the effort to kill the prey outright. This strategy would also potentially have allowed the prey to recover and be fed upon in a similar way later.[13] An additional suggestion notes that ornithopods were the most common available dinosaurian prey, and that allosaurs may have subdued them by using an attack similar to that of modern big cats: grasping the prey with their forelimbs, and then making multiple bites on the throat to crush the trachea.[5] This is compatible with other evidence that the forelimbs were strong and capable of restraining prey.[19]
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Moonfire
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« Reply #47 on: December 13, 2009, 02:37:04 am »

Other aspects of feeding include the eyes, arms, and legs. The shape of the skull of Allosaurus limited potential binocular vision to 20° of width, slightly less than that of modern crocodilians. As with crocodilians, this may have been enough to judge prey distance and time attacks.[84] The similar wide field of view suggests that allosaurs, like modern crocodilians, were ambush hunters.[85] The arms, compared with those of other theropods, were suited for both grasping prey at a distance or clutching it close,[19] and the articulation of the claws suggests that they could have been used to hook things.[18] Finally, the top speed of Allosaurus has been estimated at 30 to 55 kilometers per hour (19 to 34 miles per hour).[8]
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« Reply #48 on: December 13, 2009, 02:38:59 am »



Allosaurus and Stegosaurus skeletons, Denver Museum of Nature and Science
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« Reply #49 on: December 13, 2009, 03:01:06 am »



Allosaurus attacking, based on the theories of Bakker (1998) and Rayfield et al. (2001).

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« Reply #50 on: December 13, 2009, 03:03:17 am »



Allosaurus skull cast in front view at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allosaurus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species_of_Allosaurus
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