Re: Cooperating theropods?

["Allan Edels" <edels@email.msn.com>]

    Concerning the comments about the 3 or 4 _Deinonychus_ found with a
_Tenontosaurus_:  It is not impossible that the _Tenontosaurus_ was unlucky
enough  to stumble onto a large pack of _Deinonychus_ - possibly 2 or three
competing packs - then it was brought down by all the packs - who then
fought over the possession of the carcass - This would be when the
_Deinonychus_'s died.  The fact is - _Tenontosaurus_ meat seems to have been
a real favorite of _Deinonychus_ - and  a few other Dromeosaurs. (based on
teeth found associated with _Tenontosaurus_).

    The truth is that pack hunting animals often lose members of the pack
while hunting especially the young ones, just learning to hunt and kill.
And - we certainly will never know if other _Tenontosaurus_'s were involved
without lots of footprints from the same site (which I assume were not
found).  The absurdity would be to assume that this was a typical kill site,
and not some extraordinary occurance.

    Allan Edels

-----Original Message-----
From: Larry Dunn <larrydunn@hotmail.com>
To: dinosaur@usc.edu <dinosaur@usc.edu>
Date: Friday, March 27, 1998 3:48 AM
Subject: Re: Cooperating theropods?


>From: "Jaime Headden" <jaemei@hotmail.com>
>>
>>Not when the entire bodies of these *Deinonychus* are found with the
>>*Tenontosaurus*, or that there are three different specimens of
>>dromaeosaurs preying on tenontosaurs.

SNIP

>
>I assume that the predation hypothesis suggests a struggle to kill the
>Tenontosaur, with several Deinonychus dying in the process.
>
>Isn't the patent absurdity of this obvious?
>
>How often to pack-hunting vertebrates attack a prey animal and lose
>*three* of their number in the process?

SNIP

>
>The only other rational explanation I can see is that there was a fight
>at the found carcass (theropods certainly seem to have been rough with
>each other) leading to the deaths of certain animals.
>
>Larry
>
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