Re: Ornitholestes

["Jordan Mallon" <j_mallon@hotmail.com>]

> From: StephanPickering@cs.com

> Dilophosaurus's two species, moreover, may be sexually dimorphic
> representatives, crested females to attract males (in this case, males 
> >being the crestless forms known as Liliensternus) -- speculation, to >be 
> sure, but more viable than the heterosexist filters one encounter   >(e.g., 
> the gaudily frilled ceratopsians are often described as "male" >to entice 
> females; this is nonsense: ceratopsians were female->dominated).

Hmmm... I'm not so sure about this.  Respected listmember Rob Gay has been 
looking into sexual dimorphism as it pertains to _Dilophosaurus_ and hasn't 
yet found any sign of this condition in this genus.  In fact, he gave a 
about it this past fall at SVP.  The abstract can be found here:

Gay, Robert J. 2001. "Evidence for sexual dimorphism in the early Jurassic 
theropod dinosaur Dilophosaurus and a comparison with other related forms." 
Journal of Vertebrae Paleontology 21(3); 53A.

Jordan Mallon

http://www.geocities.com/paleoportfolio/

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