Re: Speculative dino species

[Graydon <graydon@dsl.ca>]

On Sat, Jul 28, 2001 at 10:00:57AM +0200, aspidel scripsit:
> T. Mike Keesey <tmk@dinosauricon.com> wrote, in part:
> > I seriously doubt humans, per se, would evolve, given the rather drastic
> > change we are making to the Earth's history. Another intelligent species
> > of mammal might be possible, though ... who knows?
> 
> Or why not an intelligent species of troodontid or dromaeosaur?

Major drivers for human intelligence (and the intelligence of other
social mammals) include social interactions and the care of offspring.
The difference in humans seems to be based on a posture that allows a
general manipulative appendage; the evolutionary lineage has hominids
standing up, and then becoming increasingly intelligent in direct
correlation with (infered) fine motor control and hand-eye co-ordination.

Troodontids, etc., likely had some of the first two, although we don't
know how much of each.  (The human trick, in evolutionary terms, is to
take 'ganging up for self defense' to a general 'ganging up on
problems'; I wouldn't choke on this happening with dromeosaurs of some
kind, although someone who knows something about the clade might.)

It's the third one that's the problem; how do they get an evolutionary
arms race among themselves based on ability to manipulate the material
world in generalized complex ways?

Hard to see how they can exapt their primary prey-clutching adaptation
for this purpose!

-- 
                           graydon@dsl.ca
               To maintain the end is to uphold the means.