Re: Michael Crichton dies

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

Quoting David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>:

> The movie seems to agree, what with all the 
> high-browsing *Brachiosaurus*, one of which even rears on its hindlimbs...

Using it's tail for support (despite a lack of large caudal chevrons) - and to 
feed from a eucalyptus 
tree, of all things. Their leaves are highly toxic to most creatures (full of 
phenolic and terpene 
compounds), and those few species that can stomach them tend to target the 
fresh shoots in 
preferance to the older leaves. Koalas are the exception, but they need to 
spend about twenty 
hours a day sleeping just to digest their highly toxic diet (and have severely 
decreased their brain 
size to cope with the toxicity).

A brachiosaur with a belly full of eucalypt leaves would be a very short-lived 
one - but at least it 
would have died with fresh breath and a clear nasal passage. :)

-- 
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Dann Pigdon
GIS / Archaeologist              http://geo_cities.com/dannsdinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia             http://heretichides.soffiles.com
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