Re: gigantism as liability

[john bois <jbois@verizon.net>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Marjanovic" <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>
To: "DML" <dinosaur@usc.edu>
Sent: Sunday, November 16, 2008 5:26 PM
Subject: Re: gigantism as liability


> > I don't believe turtles are a good comparison because 1) they have a body 
> > plan specialized for predator defence; the shell effectively limits 
> > predation soon (relative to non-shelled creatures) after hatching, and 2) 
> > they live in a vast 3 dimensional medium that affords protection not 
> > available to terrestrial animals...
>
> How does it afford protection when there's no place to hide?

Labrynthian reef crannies, kelp forests, no water holes, no paths through 
the forest, predators/area >predators/volume, darkness increasing with 
depth, countershading available--researchers of turtle life cycle refer to 
the missing year of turtle growth when they seem to disappear. Evidently 
they are very good at hiding in this time of vulnerability.