The locomotion of sauropod dinosaurs: gaits and size constraints

该项目旨在研究历史上最大的陆地动物蜥脚类恐龙是如何移动的。足迹可以对这个问题做出有价值的贡献，因为它们是灭绝动物运动的唯一直接证据。这个综合项目旨在首次将不同的证据汇集在一起：对活动物的研究;对特别完整的骨骼的测量;生物力学考虑;以及对大量化石足迹样本的统计分析。一方面，目的是为更好地解释蜥脚类动物的足迹奠定基础。最重要的是，这包括更准确地识别负责任的trackmaker分类群和改进的估计身体大小的基础上的轨道。另一方面，我的目标是解决两个明确的知识空白：1）蜥脚类动物可能使用哪些步态的问题，2）他们的非对称性在多大程度上影响和限制了他们的运动。

This project is intended to investigate how the largest land-living animals in history, the sauropod dinosaurs, moved. Footprints can make a valuable contribution to this question, as they are the only direct evidence of the movement of extinct animals. This integrative project intends to, for the first time, bring different lines of evidence together: Studies on living animals; measurements on particularly complete skeletons; biomechanical considerations; as well as statistical analyses of a large sample of fossil tracks. On the one hand, the aim is to create the basis for a better interpretation of sauropod tracks. Above all, this includes more accurate identifications of the responsible trackmaker taxon and improved estimations of body size based on tracks. On the other hand, I aim to address two explicit gaps in knowledge: 1) the question of which gaits sauropods probably used and 2) to what extent their gigantism influenced and restricted their locomotion.