RE: Theropod Social Behavior (Videos of Possible Analogs)

[Sim Koning <simkoning@msn.com>]

Woops, I was referring to the creche behavior of the caimans, not the jerky 
bird parents. There have been sauropod nests found more or less clumped 
together, so I wouldn't be surprised if a single large adult stuck around to 
guard hundreds of babies in order to prevent the foliage from being depleted in 
the area by a large herd of adults. 

> Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2010 07:28:16 -0500
> Subject: Re: Theropod Social Behavior (Videos of Possible Analogs)
> From: mjohn.bois@gmail.com
> To: simkoning@msn.com
> CC: dinosaur@usc.edu
> 
> >I Wonder if sauropods behaved like this to some degree.
> 
> Agonistic behavior toward adolescents maybe...but I would bet it would
> be centered around reproduction and not food. The striated rook adults
> are claiming a localized resource (the kill). This would be a waste of
> time for a resource that is spread out as in grazing. A better
> analogue for sauropod behavior might be elephants...the bulls defend
> their females against upstart adolescent Lotharios.                           
>