Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 120, December 2014, pp. 1-29. | Page 15

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Prof. Dr. Sc. Norman Ali Bassam Khalaf-von Jaffa and his daughter Nora Norman Ali
Khalaf infront of the Long-necked whip-tailed Sauropod Dinosaur (Amphicoelias
brontodiplodocus Galiano and Albersdörfer, 2010) skeleton at Dubai Mall, Dubai, UAE.
The skeleton is over 155 million years old and is 24.4 meters long and 7.6 meter high. It
was discovered in 2008 at the Dana Quarry in Wyoming, USA. 08.04.2014.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/50022881@N00/13862470044/

Paleobiology
In his 2006 re-evaluation, Carpenter examined the paleobiology of giant
sauropods, including Amphicoelias, and addresses the question of why this group
attained such a huge size. He pointed out that gigantic sizes were reached early
in sauropod evolution, with very large sized species present as early as the late
Triassic Period, and concluded that whatever evolutionary pressure caused large
size was present from the early origins of the group. Carpenter cited several
studies of giant mammalian herbivores, such as elephants and rhinoceros, which
showed that larger size in plant-eating animals leads to greater efficiency in
digesting food. Since larger animals have longer digestive systems, food is kept
in digestion for significantly longer periods of time, allowing large animals to
survive on lower-quality food sources. This is especially true of animals with a
large number of 'fermentation chambers' along the intestine which allow
microbes to accumulate and ferment plant material, aiding digestion
(Wikipedia).
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 120 – December 2014