basking birds

[rowe@lepomis.psych.upenn.edu (Mickey Rowe)]

Another one listproc didn't like (please nobody take it personally
:-): 


  Date: Mon, 31 Jul 1995 23:50:50 -0400
  From: DPterosaur@aol.com
  To: wraddatz@wheel.dcn.davis.ca.us
  Cc: dinosaur@lepomis.psych.upenn.edu
  Subject: basking birds

  <Unless I am very mistaken they are trying to disappate the heat not
  contain it. They also open their mouths and appear to pant. I
  thought bird were homethermic. Also the frilled lizard only goes
  bipedal to escape, bypassing Carriers(sp?) constraint which has to
  do with the lung capacity while running on all fours. They extend
  their frills to strike fear in the hearts of their foe not to gather
  heat.>

  Thanks for your reply, Jennifer.  I wondered about the basking birds
  because they choose to sit in direct sunlight, not shade, as one
  would expect of a bird trying to "Chill out."  So I'm still
  confused.  You are mistaken about the frilled lizard only going
  bipedal as a means of escape.  And you are not alone. Most
  scientists will insist that there are NO bipedal lizards. The
  literature (Shine and Lambeck 1989) indicates that frilled lizards
  spend 95% of their time in trees, and typically walk bipedally on
  the ground. Only rarely were quadrupedal excursions noted, and then
  usually as a prelude to a mad dash, once again bipedally.  Also, in
  all bipedally running lizards, the rib cage continues to undulate,
  restricting breathing, as in quadrupedal progression, thereby not
  bypassing "Carrier's constraint."  I never said frillnecks used
  their frills to gather heat.