Tyrannosaurus rex redux: Tyrannosaurus tail portrayals.

摘要

Persons and Currie (2011) present a useful and anatomically-rigorous study of tail anatomy in Tyrannosau-rus rex and other reptiles. We applaud their careful measurements of muscle masses and their important recognition that such quantitative data from extant Sau-ria are critical for any reconstructions of anatomy or mechanics in extinct Sauria. We also agree with their approximations of muscle areas and torques, although like all previous efforts, these inevitably have a range of error and assumptions that future sensitivity analyses need to carefully consider (especially for muscle fascicle lengths and maximal isometric stresses or "specific tensions"). It is possible that relative tail muscle sizes increased during tyrannosaur ontogeny but sensitivity analysis will be critical for testing this idea rigorously.