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

[Chris Campbell <sankarah@ou.edu>]

Betty Cunningham wrote:
> 
> Chris Campbell wrote:
> > I don't see what the brain has to do with it; pack tactics can be
> > practiced by such simple-minded animals as hammerhead sharks, so I don't
> > think a bright therapod would have much trouble.
> 
> A pack of dogs or lions use a very different tactic in a VERY different
> environment than sharks (singly or together) ever could.
> It's IMPOSSIBLE to approach 'downwind' from a prey animal with sonar in
> a completely featureless environment, for example.

Naturally.  That's beside the point.  I'm talking about brains and
coordination between predators, nothing more.  If we're going to charge
Deinonychus with being too stupid to function in packs, animals with
less brain material who do so are a good counter-example.
 
> The prey whale or dolphin KNOWS the shark's whereabouts at all times,
> and not just via taste in the water (equivalent of terrestrial smell) or
> sight.  There are no trees to hide behind.

Sharks don't hunt whales or dolphins in packs.  They corral fish,
essentially arranging themselves so that the fish who attempt to escape
one shark run right into another.  Also, I've only heard of this in
hammerheads, not sharks in general.
 
> With sharks, they bite something till they're fed, the thing may or may
> not die by the time the shark begins digesting.  And this tactic is the
> same whether it is one shark by itself or many sharks.

True, but not what I'm talking about.
 
> With lions and hyenas and dogs it's much more a testing measure of
> whether this hunting group is ready to confront that prey group or
> individual prey animal.  The animals seem to need reassurance they have
> good chances of winning a confontation before they confront.

Right, but also beside the point.
 
> This difference in style seems to support the idea of instinctual
> hunting of sharks vs. the contemplative hunting of terrestrial mammals.

And why, exactly, could Deinonychus not employ simple strategies
instinctively?  I see no reason.  All assumming the distinction between
"instinctive" and "contemplative" means anything anymore, of course. 
I'm fairly convinced the terms are constructs and not much more.

Chris