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

["Ray Stanford" <starsong@prodigy.net>]

Larry Dunn wrote [Date: Sunday, April 05, 1998 1:03 AM
Subject: Re: The absurdity, the absurdity (was: Cooperating theropods?)]:


>...There isn't any terrestrial
>vertebrate that regularly preys upon another terrestrial vertebrate
>thirty times it's weight, even in a pack.  Why should it?  There's other
>prey to be had.  Why assume that extinct vertebrates did when extant
>vertebrates don't?

    Give Chris Campbell a break!  One extant terrestrial vertebrate even
does it singly (or in multiples):  The vampire bat, a terrestrial, mammalian
vertebrate).

    I had a friend in Peru who kept his donkey inside one room of his home
at night, afraid that a rabid vambire bat would prey upon it.  I'll bet an
adult donkey weighes at least a few hundred times what the heftiest vampire
bat weighs!

    If a vambire bat sucking your blood isn't 'preying upon' you (or the
donkey, if you prefer), then summon "Fluke Man" out of the X-files!  ;-)

    Of course, then, if you're in certain South American rivers, there are
schools of Piranha  (vertebrate, but aguatic) to make your swim interesting,
even though you are well over thirty times the weight of one of these fish.

    Pleasant dreams!

    Ray Stanford