Re: Tyrannosaurid Growth Spurts

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

Christopher Taylor wrote:
> 
>     Are any modern flightless birds carnivorous (in the sense of eating
> large prey)? Kiwis and probably steamer ducks are
> small-invertebrate-ivorous, emus and ostriches will eat pretty much anything
> that can fit down their throats (up to, and including, rocks), but I don't
> think any of them eat anything that they can't swallow in one gulp. Weka
> might be willing to tackle relatively larger things (such as rats), but
> still nothing anywhere near body size.

Does anyone know the sorts of prey that African ground hornbills will
tackle? Will a group of them co-operate to bring down prey of about
their own mass (I'm guessing a large rabbit-like animal would weigh
about as much as a bird of that size)?

I remember seeing a program once where Uncle Bob (Bakker) compared
ground hornbills to velociraptors - or at least suggested they were
amongst the closest analogues alive today.

-- 
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Dann Pigdon
GIS / Archaeologist         http://www.geocities.com/dannsdinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia        http://heretichides.ravencommunity.net/
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