Re: New dinosaur from South America

["Jerry D. Harris" <dinogami@hotmail.com>]

> What about Tyrannosaurus?  It's not much smaller than the Argentineans, and 
> all of it's prey (hadrosaurs, ceratopsians, etc) were smaller than it, 
> right?  Probably no sauropods around, at least that we know of.  So why did 
> it get so big?

  Some day, we'll all live in a paleontological utopia where no one will 
_ever_ use the wholly ambiguous, entirely frivolous words "big," "bigger," 
"biggest," "small," "smaller," and "smallest"...

  By what standards do you mean _Tyrannosaurus_ was "bigger" than all its 
potential prey?  Hip height?  If so, then yes, _Tyrannosaurus_ was _taller_ 
than contemporaneous ceratopsians, and most (but not all) hadrosaurs.  Do 
you mean by weight?  Then no:  most (of the larger) ceratopsians and 
hadrosaurs were probably in the same general weight category as 
_Tyrannosaurus_.  Do you mean length?  Again, ceratopsians were shorter, but 
hadrosaurs were more or less equivalent.  But so what?  You canNOT compare 
the bauplan of the average ceratopsian and the average tyrannosaurid and 
simply say one was "bigger."  Why did tyrannosaurids get "big?"  Frankly, if 
you look at the stocky, powerful build of the average large ceratopsian, if 
I were the predator, then I'd want to be pretty big and powerful, too, to 
tackle it!  And, despite the "Jurassic Park" syndrome, I'd want to be a 
pretty big predator to tackle a large hadrosaur, too, instead of a small, 
"velociraptor-like" theropod, even in a pack.

  Sorry to sound so annoyed, but I for one am very tired of the "big" 
issue.  Kids always ask me "What was the biggest dinosaur?" and I always 
answer "That depends on what you mean by big!"

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                     Jerry D. Harris
                 Fossil Preparation Lab
          New Mexico Museum of Natural History
                   1801 Mountain Rd NW
               Albuquerque  NM  87104-1375
                 Phone:  (505) 841-2809
                  Fax: ; (505) 841-2808
           >>>>> dinogami@hotmail.com <<<<<

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