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Re: RAPTOR AND JELLO?
Well, as long as we are on the subject of incorrect bits and pieces, here are
a few things that bothered me, that I don't think have been mentioned in the
recent discussion.
1) No ground disturbance, or flying dust and debris, during the _Gallimimus_
stampede.
2) When the jeep carrying Muldoon _et_al._ pulled up to the site where the
automagic jeep had been shoved over the wall by the _T._rex_, there was
no ground disturbance of any kind in the mud and gravel of the road --
no tire tracks, no _T._rex_ tracks, et cetera. One _T._rex_ track
mysteriously materialized later on, just in time for the puddle of water
in it to start jiggling when the _T._rex_ was coming back. It might have
been much more effective cinematography to have had the road several
feet deep in disturbed mud, the more so because the _T._rex_ would
probably have been able to make much better headway through it than
the jeep or its occupants.
3) Tim was in no danger from the electrified fence as long as he did not
touch the ground and the fence simultaneously. The "human piece of
toast" scene was ridiculous. (BTW, speaking of human foodstuffs,
since there is already one _T._rex_ named "Sue", could we say that
Gennaro (however spelled) had met his fate as a Creep Sue's Et? Yes, the
humans were pretty dull and uninteresting but after all, they only had
bit parts...)
4) Why were the _Velociraptors_ even awake? Three of them had been given
a whole bullock to gorge on earlier in the day, and it almost certainly
outmassed them all put together. The _Velociraptor_ pack should have
been sprawled in somnolent repose, belly up, feet in the air, snoring
peacefully, for another day or two.
(Actually, there is a good explanation for this: There was, after
all, a _T._rex_ on the loose; that might be enough to make even the
most inert of small (comparatively!) carnivorous couch potatos wake
up and become agitated, in which case they were in the main headquarters
building only in search of a good place to hide. And where better than
in a place they associated with home and security in their youth.)
5) What wonderful foresight on the part of the architects of the headquarters
building, to have made the floor of the dining room sufficiently strong
to withstand a _T._rex_ trampling on it. No doubt they anticipated
college kids in the park during spring break...
6) Having the newly-dominant animal in a social predator pack kill many of
the other animals therein does not sound convincing in light of the
behavior of those social predators for which there is ethological data:
Don't most social predators studied usually do a good job of intergroup
conflict resolution without serious violence? Constant fighting with
your pack mates doesn't sound like a good way to grow old enough to
reproduce: I would expect outclassed _Velociraptors_ to kowtow and become
functional subordinate members of the pack.
7) On the "lysine contingency": I submit that Crichton really messed this
one up: Many creatures do not synthesize all twenty of the amino acids
which are coded for by DNA, and rely instead on diet to obtain the others.
If I am not mistaken, lysine is one of the ones that we ourselves do not
synthesize. (Someone hollar if I've got it wrong.) I would expect a
predator to have a high-protein diet, that would be more likely to supply
sufficient of all amino acids, than an omnivore or an herbivore.
-- Jay Freeman