Re: Spinosaurs ate pterosaurs

[Ivan Kwan <dino_rampage@hotmail.com>]

Er... spiders as well?

In any case, whether or not Epidendrosaurus parachuted after insects or not, 
one point has to be mentioned:

Among all the gliding animals, parachuting is used as a form of locomotion, 
not as a way to pursue prey on the wing. Flying snakes, geckos, dragons, 
frogs, squirrels, phalangers, colugos, lemurs etc etc. all glide/ leap to 
get from one place to another. Certainly, none of these creatures have 
evolved to capture prey in md-flight.

Though I do recall that in many caves frequented by bats, pythons and other 
large snakes may lurk, waiting for dawn or dusk, and when the bats come 
streaming in or out, the snakes use this opportunity to seize any  bats that 
fly too close.

And IIRC, the caracal is another one of those cats highly adapted to 
capturing flying birds. (I thought servals were more adapted for stalking 
rodents in tall grass?)

----Original Message Follows----
From: Tim Williams <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com
To: dinosaur@usc.edu
CC: qilongia@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Spinosaurs ate pterosaurs
Date: Sat, 03 Jul 2004 14:32:57 -0500

My previous point was that AFAIK there are no animals that *specialize* in 
snatching insects or birds out of the air, without the benefit of powered 
flight.  Certain animals (e.g., cats, the bane of native Aussie fauna) may 
do this opportunistically, but none make a living out of it.



Tim

_________________________________________________________________
Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! 
http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/

_________________________________________________________________
Find gifts, buy online with MSN Shopping. http://shopping.msn.com.sg/