Can TITANOSAURS Rear Up?

[Takama]

Ok Heres another Question i would like answered. Is it possible for a Titanosaur Like Ampelosaurus, and Saltasaurus to rear up. on top of that, is it possible for the super giants to pull it off like this

[tyrantqueen]

Brachiosaurines most likely could not rear up. But I'm not sure about the rest of the group. But at such a size, would most of them really need to? Apart from mating, they wouldn't have trouble reaching anything.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Most of what I have read suggests not something they were likely well suited for , nor would they have likely stayed in the position for long.You also have to question the why in it, given they were already quite tall enough to reach what they wanted as far as food, and from a fighting viewpoint all they would be accomplishing is lifting their front feet that are clawed above the height needed to defend with, and leaving their underside exposed to attack, as well as making it somewhat problematic to defend their backside while tripoded
  Flip side, if this position were possible it certainly might resolve some of the mating questions that surround the larger sauropods.

[Tyto_Theropod]

On the whole I agree with all the points here, but I thought I'd point out that in Planet Dinosaur and Argentinosaurus was shown rearing up to intimidate defend itself from an attacking group of Mapusaurus. Plausible?

[amargasaurus cazaui]

On the whole I agree with all the points here, but I thought I'd point out that in Planet Dinosaur and Argentinosaurus was shown rearing up to intimidate defend itself from an attacking group of Mapusaurus. Plausible?

See my comments above...even if it were plausible, its a poor move and exposes the underside to attack while placing the front claws above a useful height for fighting. Just my opinion, but not only not plausible, but also not something you can make any case for doing.

[Takama]

Most of what I have read suggests not something they were likely well suited for , nor would they have likely stayed in the position for long.You also have to question the why in it, given they were already quite tall enough to reach what they wanted as far as food, and from a fighting viewpoint all they would be accomplishing is lifting their front feet that are clawed above the height needed to defend with, and leaving their underside exposed to attack, as well as making it somewhat problematic to defend their backside while tripoded
  Flip side, if this position were possible it certainly might resolve some of the mating questions that surround the larger sauropods.

'
Ok so a Large one like Argentinosaurus can not rear up, or if it can it would be stupid for it to due so.   However, i was thinking of doing a Rearing Ampelosaurus for my line Of dinosaurs and its a measly 15 meters long.   Would it be more likly to rear up without to much trouble?

[Dinoguy2]

This was studied by Heinrich Mallison, general dinosaur biomechanics guru. He found that diplodocids were very well suited for rearing, but titanosaurs would have had a really hard time doing so. The back was too flexible to support rearing without extreme amounts of muscle strain.
http://www.academia.edu/2245240/Rearing_giants-kinetic_dynamic_modeling_of_sauropod_bipedal_and_tripodal_poses

Diplodocids were so well adapted for rearing its probably not a coincidence and they must have done so on a regular basis to have needed such adaptations. They probably wouldn't have had any problem even walking bipedally and footprints show that at least juveniles ran on their hind feet.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

This was studied by Heinrich Mallison, general dinosaur biomechanics guru. He found that diplodocids were very well suited for rearing, but titanosaurs would have had a really hard time doing so. The back was too flexible to support rearing without extreme amounts of muscle strain.
http://www.academia.edu/2245240/Rearing_giants-kinetic_dynamic_modeling_of_sauropod_bipedal_and_tripodal_poses

Diplodocids were so well adapted for rearing its probably not a coincidence and they must have done so on a regular basis to have needed such adaptations. They probably wouldn't have had any problem even walking bipedally and footprints show that at least juveniles ran on their hind feet.

I agree with everything he just stated as well, he is saying this better than I did

[Simon]

I do not see why they would not have been able to rear up (not for prolonged periods, you understand, but to get into a mating position, posturing, or self-defense (you know, rear up and then be coming down and woe-to-the-critter-that-gets-stomped).

Push off up, then come down with a stomp.  That to me seems quite plausible for all but the oldest and largest animals.

Like the running younger TRexes, versus the walking fully grown animals, rearing as a behavior likely depended heavily on the age/size of the animal.

So, a younger, smaller animal would likely have found this much easier to do than a fully grown adult.

So the answer to the question is nuanced, and affected by a lot of factors.  Its not a simple "yes" or "no" answer ....

[Tyto_Theropod]

I do not see why they would not have been able to rear up (not for prolonged periods, you understand, but to get into a mating position, posturing, or self-defense (you know, rear up and then be coming down and woe-to-the-critter-that-gets-stomped).

That's basically what I meant, Simon but I didn't put it as clearly. Duh.

This was studied by Heinrich Mallison, general dinosaur biomechanics guru. He found that diplodocids were very well suited for rearing, but titanosaurs would have had a really hard time doing so. The back was too flexible to support rearing without extreme amounts of muscle strain.
http://www.academia.edu/2245240/Rearing_giants-kinetic_dynamic_modeling_of_sauropod_bipedal_and_tripodal_poses

Diplodocids were so well adapted for rearing its probably not a coincidence and they must have done so on a regular basis to have needed such adaptations. They probably wouldn't have had any problem even walking bipedally and footprints show that at least juveniles ran on their hind feet.

Very interesting - it seems odd to imagine a Diplodocid walking on two legs (because you know, you get an image of a dinosaur stuck in your head, and then new research shakes that up and you're like WHAT?!) - it must have been quite a sight!