Re: Mammals preying on giant azhdarchid pterosaurs!

[Ronald Orenstein <ornstn@home.com>]

At 08:32 PM 21/05/00 -0400, John Bois wrote:


> On Sun, 21 May 2000, Timothy Williams wrote:
>
> > Rats eat croc eggs, so it's reasonable to assume that Mesozoic mammals did
> > too.  Why then did crocs survive the Mesozoic?
>
> For the same reason they survive today.  I believe this is due to their
> aquatic habit.  Firstly, wetlands are a refugium from mammals.  Second,
> crocs probably enjoy habitat-specific advantages over animals not
> specialized for this niche.  It is possible that predators of croc eggs
> stand a better chance of being eaten themselves than predators of
> terrestrial nests.

id giant m
However, terrestrial or semi-terrestrial crocodiles, though now extinct, 
survived well past the end of the Cretaceous (eg Quinkana from 
Australia).  So did giant monitor lizards, continental giant tortoises such 
as Collosochelys from India, and the meiolaniid horned tortoises.

--
Ronald I. Orenstein                           Phone: (905) 820-7886
International Wildlife Coalition              Fax/Modem: (905) 569-0116
1825 Shady Creek Court
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5L 3W2          mailto:ornstn@home.com