Well Mike, I think there is something you should know...............if we consider that each Pleo, or Camarasaurus could live up to the age of about 100 and lets say they reach breeding age at say, 15, they could have a breeding span of 55 years. Now, I have 26 Pleos of which half are female, including Baby Ruth, Cammi-Sue, PC or Pink Champagne, Rossella, Purple Fantasy, Coral, Gold Hatch #2, Nova, and 4 others who are not named. Now I will eliminate from the breeding pool several males, Argyle who is blind, two un opened and one who is not working properly, so the other males get extra duty because they have good genetics...
So with thirteen females who are healthy and start breeding at the age of 15 with a average of six eggs hatching each year, (we will figure on the low side of breeding and who knows how long it took to hatch an egg so we will say one breeding per year) Also Camarasaurus did not lay eggs in a nest as previous thought, but rather laid them as they walked.............
So each Pleo in one year gave birth to six babies . So one female could breed up to say 70, so that is a 55 year breeding period!
so in a lifetime, ONE Pleo could give birth to 330 babies,
Now if you Multiply 330 babies born in one year for the total of that pleos breeding span, and multiply it X 12 more female Pleos , you get a grand total of
4,290 Baby Pleos ( or Camarasaurus) being born in a lifetime..............
Now of course that number increases quite a bit if you give say two breeding per year, that would be 660 babies being born per lifetime of one female and if you multiply one pleos babies born in a 55 year breeding cycle to the number of females left, that would be 660 Pleos X12 more females = a grand total of
8,920 Pleos born . Of course if you increase the eggs hatching the number goes up even more but I am not going there.
Mike there is one thing I forgot to mention that you should know, but you probably already do.. ( read below.....for the link.)
CAMARASAURUS
CAMARASAURUS
"Chambered Lizard"
•Plant eater
•Spoon-shaped teeth
•Walked on four thick legs
•Long tail to counterbalance long neck
•Small head and blunt snout
ANATOMY
Camarasaurus was a long-necked, long-tailed giant herbivore, measuring about 24 to 65 feet (7.5 to 20 m) long 15 feet (4.6 m) tall at the hips, and weighing up to 20 tons (roughly 28000 kg). It was much smaller than its fellow sauropods. It had a small, long head with a blunt snout and spoon-shaped teeth. Its neck and tail were shorter than most other sauropods. It had thick legs with five-toed feet; the inner toe had a long, sharp claw for protection. The front legs were only a bit shorter than its back legs, making its back almost level to the ground. Its name, "chambered lizard," comes from the holes in its vertebrae that decrease its weight.
WHEN CAMARASAURUS LIVED
Camarasaurus lived during the late Jurassic Period, about 155 to 145 million years ago. The late Jurassic was the time of the enormous sauropods, including Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, and Brachiosaurus. Also present were Stegosaurus, Tuojiangosaurus, Allosaurus, Supersaurus, Coelurosaur, and many others.
BEHAVIOR
Camarasaurus fossils have been found in groups with both adult and young together. This suggests that Camarasaurus travelled in herds and may have cared for their young. Camarasaurus may have hatched from eggs, like other sauropods. Sauropod eggs have been found in a linear pattern and not in nests; presumably the eggs were laid as the animal was walking. It is thought that sauropods did not take care of their eggs. Sauropods life spans may have been in the order of 100 years.
DIET AND TEETH
Camarasaurus toothCamarasaurus was an herbivore (it ate only plants). It must have eaten a tremendous amount of plant material each day to sustain itself. It swallowed leaves whole, without chewing them, and may have swallowed gastroliths (gizzard stones) to help digest tough plant fibers, like fern leaves and conifers . It had long, thick, spoon-shaped teeth.
INTELLIGENCE
It used to be thought that the sauropods (like Camarasaurus, Brachiosaurus and Apatosaurus) and Stegosaurus had a second brain. Paleontologists now think that what they thought was a second brain was just an enlargement in the spinal cord in the hip area. This enlargement was larger than the animal's tiny brain.
Camarasaurus was a sauropod, whose intelligence (as measured by its relative brain to body weight, or EQ) was the among the lowest of the dinosaurs.
EQ
LOCOMOTION
Camarasaurus probably moved slowly on four massive legs (as determined from fossilized tracks and its leg length and estimated mass).
FOSSILS
Western USAMany Camarasaurus fossils have been found in North America (in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming). Camarasaurus was named in 1877 by Edward Drinker Cope.
CLASSIFICATION
Camarasaurus was a saurischian dinosaur, a sauropodomorpha, and one of the smallest of the sauropoda (long-necked, long-tailed plant-eaters). It belongs to the Family Camarasauridae, boxy-headed sauropods, which includes Camarasaurus, Euhelopus, Opistocoelicaudia, etc.
The type species is C. supremus. Other species of Camarasaurus include: C. grandis, C. lentus, and C. lewisi.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Information Sheets About Dinosaurs
(and Other Prehistoric Creatures)
Mike, of course there is one thing I forgot to mention and I think you should know if you do not already...Camarasaurus had one of the smallest if not the smallest of all dinosaurs..........Of course with Bob how could you not know this...
So I think you are off the hook, just watch out for Sally, you still have her to consider.................................................I think the solution is just sterilize them all..................................
If just my guys alone start laying eggs, there will never be a shortage of Pleo babies.........
RWM
