The largest land animal today is an african elephant which is 14 feet tall. Brachiosaurus was 50 feet tall. They would need to eat an order of magnitude more because the cost of mobility increases with weight.
Penguins, seals, and whales (and to a lesser extent hippos) can maintain this ratio because it gives them bouyancy while travelling in water.
Plus, Hippos and Elephants are actually pretty big boned.
They would, but they also did. They were herbivores
To be clear I do not actually think that they were as stocky as that pic. Point is that for land animals, though, eating plants actually is often the way to being huge
Sauropods had hollow bones and air sacs all throughout for lightweight structural support. You can’t just compare sizes and assume similar density as elephants or other large mammals.
They have a good idea how much the big sauropods might have weighed based on fossilized foot prints and bone structure. Still, if something is not preserved in the fossil record it will not be shown in reconstructions.
Kind of hard to maintain that bulk on leaves and grass, bud. I guess it would help them with predators, though.
Hippos and rhinos get pretty big on that diet! If anything plants are a better diet for something really chunky because plants cannot run away
Also elephants.
As well as silverbacks, and giant pandas
People use the term “strong as an ox.” Oxen don’t eat meat.
Sure, you just need a lot of it.
The largest land animal today is an african elephant which is 14 feet tall. Brachiosaurus was 50 feet tall. They would need to eat an order of magnitude more because the cost of mobility increases with weight.
Penguins, seals, and whales (and to a lesser extent hippos) can maintain this ratio because it gives them bouyancy while travelling in water.
Plus, Hippos and Elephants are actually pretty big boned.
They would, but they also did. They were herbivores
To be clear I do not actually think that they were as stocky as that pic. Point is that for land animals, though, eating plants actually is often the way to being huge
Sauropods had hollow bones and air sacs all throughout for lightweight structural support. You can’t just compare sizes and assume similar density as elephants or other large mammals.
That lends to my notion that a fat Brachio would be unsustainable.
True, that’s why elephants hunt lions for protein.
Lion’s eat Wathogs, Gazelle, Zebra and sometimes birds.
Giraffe and Elephants are likely to kill a lion.
Also an elephant’s height is like 14 feet max. Brachiosaurus height was 50 feet.
What? Can you source that? I’m extremely curious if that’s a real thing.
They have a good idea how much the big sauropods might have weighed based on fossilized foot prints and bone structure. Still, if something is not preserved in the fossil record it will not be shown in reconstructions.
What if it was reaaaaally fluffy down?