Re: The absurdity, the absurdity (was: Cooperating theropods?)

["Larry Dunn" <larrydunn@hotmail.com>]

Reply-To: jconrad@lib.drury.edu

>I have not completely made my mind up on the matter, though I do
>feel that modern mammals are generally poor analogues in some respects 
of
>this example.  We don't have any extant predators with as much 
"firepower"
>to use a fine Paulian term.  

Being possessed of a lethal combination of intelligence and energy, 
mammalian predators are pound for pound *far* more effective than any 
dinosaur predator could ever be, even assuming that theropod metabolism 
allowed every bit as active a lifestyle as birds do today. 

Of course, no feeding event in the history of life could come close to 
the drama of tyrannosaur and triceratops or giganotosaur and whatever 
the hell they ate, but that's because those fellas were so, well, big.

As to entertaining the possibilities: it's also possible that 
dromaeosaurs ate only each other, isn't it?  Isn't there in fact better 
evidence to indicate that theropods preyed upon each other than that 
they preyed upon herbivores?  I mean, these *were* animals so different 
from what's around today and all.  So are you willing to entertain that 
hypothesis?

My point being that, upon hearing this, many would rush to say that 
vertebrate predators don't make a living eating each other and then fill 
in all the perfectly good reasons why they don't.  We can't analogize to 
extant vertebrate behavior when it's convenient and then ignore it when 
it keeps hundred pound Deinonychus off of one-ton Tenontosaurus's back.

>Yes, but the premise is nearly the same about the predation in both
>arguments.  

I'm trying to understand how you can see the premise being the same.  
Evidence that animal A ate animal B does not in any way indicate or even 
suggest that animal A first killed animal B.

>Not at all, in fact I don't think we should *assume* anything about
>behavior, but we should weigh all options.

And then the one that weighs the most should be accepted as the most 
likely hypothesis (not the sexiest but pretty improbable one). 

Larry


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