Adam & Scott, This all demonstrates my point that it took a combination of "strategies" (coping mechanisms) for land animals to survive the K-T disaster. Perhaps none of the egg-laying "dinosaurs" were precocious enough to fend for themselves upon hatching, or they were too big and starved, or a myriad of other possibilities. None of them had a winning combination. FROGS. They (at least some kinds) possess the ultimate coping strategy--- suspended animation (extreme torpor or hibernation, etc.). Any frog that was frozen in the ground or buried in dried-up mud, etc., would have been buried (thus protected) in a state of virtual suspended animation (which can last for months or even years)---A perfect K-T coping mechanism. They emerge months or years later ready to breed. Those who buried themselves in alkaline soils may have had the highest survival rates. Some of the mammals were probably protected by a less extreme form (normal hibernation). It has been suggested (on botanical evidence) that K-T occurred in June (wintertime in Antarctica and Australia). Some of the bird survivors in burrows or even caves may have also benefitted from some form of torpor to conserve energy. Lots of different possibilites, but being underground or underwater is the one common thread that seems to connect the vast majority of survivors. -------Ken Kinman ******************************************
From: "Adam Britton" <abritton@wmi.com.au> Reply-To: abritton@wmi.com.au To: <dinosaur@usc.edu> Subject: Re: Subterranean K-T strategies (was "I know why...") Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 23:52:41 +0930
What makes you think that many dinosaurs didn't bury their eggs either? Fossil evidence supports it.
Adam
----- Original Message ----- From: "Scott P. Smith" <scott@scott-smith.com> To: <dinosaur@usc.edu> Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2001 11:36 PM Subject: Re: Subterranean K-T strategies (was "I know why...")
Sea Turtles: Bury their eggs
Sharks: Many give birth to live young (more protected from environmental hazards than eggs). I wonder if modern sharks that lay eggs evolved from species that gave birth to live young. If so, that would suggest laying protection of eggs during K/T was the determining factor.
Mammals: No eggs. Do platypuses and echidnas protect their eggs by burying or laying in a tunnel - Yes I think.
snakes, lizards,crocodiles: bury eggs.
Frogs: That's the hard one. They do not bury their eggs. Frogs don't seem to fit the vulnerable egg theory.
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