Re: All this flying talk---then comes the why..or something

[zenlizard@juno.com]

On Wed, 15 Apr 1998 14:17:23 EDT Dinogeorge  writes:
(In relation to arboreality developing for predation):
>Here we have the problem of the future determining the past. The animals
have no >way of knowing, when they first go up into the trees, that they
will be able to attack >from this vantage point.
Keep in mind that I am not actually advocating, merely proposing this
senario:
Arboreality developed as an extension of cursorial hunting.  That is, ,
the idea of going up in to the trees was not to actually attack from
there, but to get a better look around while hunting.  OK, now you're up
in the tree.  Well, there's prey nearby-near enough to be reached in a
single leap.  You don't really want to leap down to the ground, then run
over to the prey item, that just gives the thing a chance to escape.  You
want to leap directly onto the prey item and kill it.
There, I've avoided  a priori argument and arboreality developing as a
method of escaping from predation.  Now, how likely is this?  How would
it be tested?  (Probably can't be, sigh...)
-zenlizard

Death to Mole Rats, Pack-Hunting Sharks, Intrepid Beetles, and Predatory
Buffalo!

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