Re: Play

[Rich Travsky <rtravsky@UWYO.EDU>]

On Mon, 8 Jul 1996 martin@hpentccl.grenoble.hp.com wrote:
> Thomas R. Lipka wrote:
> > Interesting thought!  Eventhough I accept the notion of endothermic or
> > homeothermic dinosaurs and their relationship to both Reptilia  and Aves, I
> > find it diifficult to think that any dinosaur had the inclination or the
> > ability to "play" in the sense that comes to mind. To me it seems that they
> 
> I'm still not convinced that play serves any purpose whatsoever.....I
> can't see how it produces "better" hunters, or more potetnial
> responses (animals in the wild "play" within a defined series of
> responses).
But it does socialize the animal and reinforcement its speciesness. 
Predators play, many prey play (even cows). "Complexity" of play should 
be considered. A cow may just prance and jump about, but a feline goes
through approaches and pounces. I find it hard to take that a dino
would be born a juvenile only in a physical sense. Its behavior would
likewise be juvenile (of which we can only infer).
 
> [...]

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