Re: Caudipteryx and "Whulks"

[Jonkeria@aol.com]

In a message dated 08/26/1999 6:10:58 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
granth@cyberus.ca writes:

<< 
 Speaking of Dixon's alternative realities, there's one creature in _New 
Dinos_ called a "Whulk".  It's basically a huge, open ocean, plankton-eating 
pliosaur analogous to modern baleen whales.  Could something like this have 
existed in the Mesozoic?
  >>

The complete lack of probable planktivorous (suspension-feeding) seagoing 
reptiles in the Mesozoic is indeed a puzzler, and although people like Mike 
Everhart or Dan Varner could probably answer this question much better than 
I, one answer is that diapsid reptiles, unlike marine mammals, do not have 
the morphology needed to form a tight seal at the back of the mouth in order 
to expel unwanted water but retain plankton. Also, of course the reptiles 
have no neck slits like gills which fish use to filter feed. There is 
actually an entire paper written on this subject by Rachel Collin and 
Christine Janis, and if you can find it, the reference is as follows:
Collin, R. and C. Janis. 1997. Morphological Constrainsts on Tetrapod Feeding 
Mechanisms: Why were there no suspension-feeding marine reptiles? in 
Callaway, J & E. Nicholls. Ancient Marine Reptiles. Academic Press, pp. 
451-466.

Sincerely,
Christian Kammerer