Re: Big Bakker article in June Discovery Mag

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

MariusRomanus@aol.com wrote:
> Bakker explains that like modern hawks and eagles, allosaurs had extended 
> families in which older siblings helped the parents to raise the next 
> generation.
> 
> Is that true? Do some raptors do that today? I never heard of such a thing.

I don't know of a single raptorial bird that nests in anything other
than pairs, but there are plenty of other non-raptorial species where
previous broods help their parents to raise chicks. Magpie geese always
nest in threes in northern Australia. Given they share their swamps with
a lot of crocs, it's probably a good strategy. Apostle birds usually
hang around in extended family groups of around twelve.

> There's an interesting comment that Bakker makes about preservation that's 
> counter intuitive to whatcha would think... A pristine and complete skeleton 
> is pretty much a near-useless prize. "It tells you very little because it was 
> never part of the food chain. The better looking the specimen, the less 
> information it contains. You want chewed up junk."

This makes sense if you are interested in dinosaur behaviour or
ecosystems. If a carcass gets buried quickly, the usual scavengers don't
get a chance to leave their toothy calling cards. Of course, cladists
just love pristine skeletons.

> Bakker says, "Can I put my e-mail address in the story so graduate students 
> can write me if they want to do this?"........  zorilla47@aol.com

I suspect he'll be getting plenty of "Urgent Messages" from African
nations in the near future...

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