"armoured" spinosaurs

[StephanPickering@cs.com]

A postscript re: Jack Horner. I disagree with his interpellations re: scavenging as being an either/or situation, and with his estimation that tyrannosaur adults were slow walkers incapable of killing their meals. I agree with Phil Currie re: the scenario of rapid juveniles chasing the prey, and larger, slower adults killing the prey in situations where they could not escape. E.D. Brodie III and E.D. Brodie, Jr., 1999, Predator-prey arms races: asymmetrical selection on predators and prey may be reduced when prey are dangerous, BioScience 49:557-568 is a paper which may have in it seeds (?angiosperm...but seriously>) for elaborating the perspective further. Moreover,  I wish to say that my profound admiration of Jack Horner's efforts to explicate the Hell Creek world, his hadrosaur studies, etc., his kindnesses to others -- all are hallmarks of the gentleman/ge!
nt!
!
le man/scholar he is. One can discuss dinosaurs, elucidate differences of opinion, point to possible other interpretations (Mr Headden's elaborations of comparative anatomy, e.g., in my broad comments re: spinosaurs) -- without them being seen as vindictive. I have heard Jack Horner debate the "scavenger" question with others, and noone was eaten. We are, after all, talking about the focus of most our lives; the questioning + questioning is a necessary part of the methodology of science. While my disappointment with how the dinosaurs were re-created in three Horrorwood projects is deep, the very fact that artisans did their best in situations where others wanted prototypes for posters and slash-and-tear video "games" is not to be overlooked. The dinosaurs which did succeed in capturing our imagination (Mike Trcic's 1993 full-size tyrannosaur, e.g.) were due, in large measure, to Jack Horner.