RE: Microraptor also ate fish

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

On Mon, Apr 22nd, 2013 at 4:49 PM, Anthony Docimo <keenir@hotmail.com> wrote:

>  I've been to my share of aquariums which house mudskippers, and every time i 
> looked in, the 
fish
> were out of the water.
> 
> If you aren't willing to entertain the possibility that _Microraptor_ can 
> pluck fish from the
> surface of a body of water (or a puddle), then perhaps you would be willing 
> to entertain the
> possibility that _Microraptor_ is getting its fish from the trees it glides 
> to & fro from?    
                  
Given that mangrove killifish can spend considerable time hidden in the hollows 
of trees when their 
water supply dries up, it's not inconceivable that *Microraptor* was catching 
both birds and fish in 
the trees.

Neither is it inconceivable that *Microraptor* was catching (or scavenging) 
both birds and fish on 
the ground. Or birds in the trees and fish on the ground. Or birds on the 
ground and fish in the 
trees. Not to mention one or the other or both being caught in shallow water.

That's a lot of possible combinations of hunting/scavenging behaviour and 
locations, none of which 
can be verified any more or less over another. It seems the best we can say is 
"Microraptor 
(occasionally? frequently?) ate birds and/or fish".


This reminds me of the fossils of large predatory fish that have been found 
with pterosaur remains 
in their abdominal cavities. Did they pluck pterosaurs from the surface as they 
bobbed around like 
ducks? Did they scavenge dead pterosaurs that fell into the water? Did they 
leap spectacularly out 
of the water to snatch pterosaurs on the wing? There's no possible way to 
verify any of those 
questions (although the latter would make for the coolest artistic 
reconstruction).

-- 
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Dann Pigdon
Spatial Data Analyst               Australian Dinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia               http://home.alphalink.com.au/~dannj
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