Were the necks of Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus adapted for combat?

• Main Authors: Taylor, Michael P, Wedel, Mathew J, Naish, Darren, Engh, Brian
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: PeerJ 2015
• Subjects: Lever; The Ribs; Elephant Seal
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.1347v1; https://peerj.com/preprints/1347v1.pdf; https://peerj.com/preprints/1347v1.xml; https://peerj.com/preprints/1347v1.html

The apatosaurine sauropods — Apatosaurus , Brontosaurus and possibly others — resemble their diplodocine relatives, but are generally more robust. Apatosaur necks are much thicker than in other sauropods: cervical ribs and their supports are uniquely robust, and the ribs are strongly displaced ventr...