BIRDS AS DINOSAUR ANALOGUES

[franczak@ntplx.net (Brian Franczak)]

 Stephen Throop wrote:

> Birds are used as models to speculate about dinosaurs.  If I were a
> croc, I'd hate to be hunting dinosaurs if they were as smart as crows.

Not *all* birds, nor all bird behaviors, can be used as models to speculate
about dinosaur behavior. Several bird species are *much* smarter than the
average dinosaur, and crows fall into that category. The smartest dinosaurs
(troodonts and dromaeosaurs) have been compared to modern ground birds such
as emus and ostriches; these birds are not particularly intelligent when
compared to crows, parrots, or raptors.

Brian Franczak (franczak@ntplx.net)