Re: Dinosaur radiation like mammal radiation?

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

Larry Dunn wrote:
> 
> Recently I read that the major mammal radiation didn't
> really begin until well into the Paleocene.  That
> surprised me a bit, and got me to wondering if
> dinosaur radiation following the late Triassic
> extinction was equally slow in coming.
> 
> Does the fossil record indicate that kind of "lag" for
> dinosaurs too?  If so, is it a pattern?  Why does it
> happen?

Perhaps the appearance of dinos, mammals, pterosaurs (and perhaps a
certian group of flighted theropods?) occured at the end of a "lag"
after the Permian extinctions (which, from what I've heard, made the K/T
look like a biological hiccup).

-- 
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Dann Pigdon                   Australian Dinosaurs:
GIS Archaeologist           http://dannsdinosaurs.terrashare.com
Melbourne, Australia        http://www.alphalink.com.au/~dannj/
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