Could dinosaurs swim?

YES. MOST GROUPS WERE PROBABLY competent swimmers, or at least waders. That’s because buoyancy is determined by body density, not weight, so even a massive dinosaur would be able to float (thanks to air sacs in their pneumatic bones). Sauropods left impressions of their forelimbs – but not hind legs – on river beds, implying that they pulled themselves along through the water. According to computer models that predict how dinosaurs floated, a sauropod could keep its back and tail above the surface, but may have been like an unstable cork, vulnerable to keeling over. Given that elephants (similar shape but more dense) are surprisingly good swimmers, it’s possible that sauropods were, too. One family of dinosaurs that probably couldn’t swim is ceratopsians. In the computer simulations, the anatomy and…

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Bbc Wildlife (Digital) - 1 Issue, August 2024

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