Probably not, since Kangaroos have evolved very specific traits on their caudal vertebrae that allow them to do this. So if a dino could do the same, we would be able to tell relatively easily based on their tail structure. Also, kangaroos have a more standing posture, which makes their tails touch the ground. Most biped dinos wouldn't even be able to touch their tails on the ground without crouching, since they have a much more horizontally aligned body, with stiff muscles that held it all together. But if I ever come across a paper discussing the possibility of a kangaroo like dino, you will be the first to know!
Sadly, you can't really see the tail in the 2nd pic, but I wanted to include this one, because these are mounts in the same museum, the Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels. Their iguanodon fossils are some of the most famous dinosaur fossils there are. They keep the kangaroo iguanodons on display, as they've become part of the history of paleontology. They also can't remount them, because the fossils are too fragile.
Anyone who enjoys this kind of thing, check out Your Dinosaurs Are Wrong on youtube!
Somewhere in storage, I still have an old 3D wood puzzle of a TRex posed just like this, all stiff and upright with the tail dragged behind. I don't know why, but as a kid, it seemed as unlikely a pose as my big Godzilla with the shooting arm.
Thank you all for the great thread and discourse! Conversations like this make me wish I'd pursued paleontology and geology like I had wanted.
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u/DesertNomad505 17d ago
I can't be the only one suddenly wondering if velociraptors and similar dinos might have used their tails like this, too.