RE: Dinosaurs to birds

[Stanley Friesen <sarima@ix.netcom.com>]

At 03:44 PM 1/22/99 -0800, Stewart, Dwight wrote:
>       @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
>
>          But, still, why did THOSE particular large vertebrates survive?
>Individual cases of luck, where
>       one particular specimen survives, yet not another; I can understand.
>But, why were non avian
>       dinosaurs, plesiosaurs, etc. so globally unlucky?

Perhaps they tended to be less likely to be in protected sites?

Perhaps it was just blind luck.

Perhaps they were already at reduced population levels.

>  Luck, by
>definition should be totally random & governed by the laws of statistical
>chance.  The KT extinction was massive, but why did some animals & plants
>cross the boundary in large numbers, but others completely vanished?  

Can you demonstrate that the distribution of survivors and non-survivors
*wasn't* random?  If by chance all, or all but a few isolated individuals,
of a species were killed, that would eliminate the species.

Mind, I do not think it was wholly random.  Larger animals seem to have
been less likely to make it through than smaller ones, for instance.  Since
most non-avian dinosaurs of the Maastrichtian were larger than most birds,
this may be enough to explain the difference.

--------------
May the peace of God be with you.         sarima@ix.netcom.com