Fish eaters

["Tracy L. Ford" <dino.hunter@home.com>]

Ok, the first part is about Pterosaurs.

Ever wonder how a toothed pterosaur got the fish off its teeth? Once the
fish was caught, speared with its teeth, it probably was wiggling before it
died, the pterosaur had to be a good enough flyer not to crash. Then, once
it landed, on the ground I assume (I can't see how it could if it was in a
tree), it would have to get the fish off its teeth. Either from opening its
mouth, pushing off with its tongue or with help of its 3 wing fingers. The
toothless pterosaurs may have been just better predators and didn't have to
worry about this little problem. I also don't think pterosaurs ever went
into a tree. IMHOP pterosaurs were ground up flyers and theropods were trees
down.

I also wonder how they landed. Like an Albatross? I can't see it flying into
a tree, the wings are two large.

In regards to spinosaurids, I don't think fish were the primary source of
food, but maybe secondarily (?) food. The jaws of a spinosaur is typical for
a theropod in that the lower jaw fits into the upper jaw and the teeth do
not interlock like a fish eating crocodile, pterosaur, etc.

Also, in the stomach of Baryonyx some Iguanodon bones were also found, so it
wasn't a strictly fish eater.

The large skull Horner refers to may also be one of the spinosaurus skulls
that Angela Milner is working on (Milner, A. C., 1996, Morphology,
relationships and ecology of Spinosaurs, aberrant long-snouted Cretaceous
Theropods: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, v. 16, supplement to n. 3,
Abstracts of Papers, Fifty-sixth Annual Meeting, Society of Vertebrate
Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York,
October 16-19, p. 53A.)

One skull was being used as a door stop! I hope the paper will be published
soon.

One day they'll find a spinosaurid in the good ol'USA. They've found
therizinosaurids, and why stop there, Sauropods in Dinosaur Provincial Park!

Tracy L. Ford
P. O. Box 1171
Poway Ca  92074