Re: Experts had thought only herbivores hunted in packs...

["Jaime A. Headden" <qilongia@yahoo.com>]

Ken Kinman wrote:

<As far as the skepticism goes, perhaps a tar trapping scenario might
be 
envisioned, I'm not sure.

      However, I find it extremely hard to believe that Currie would
mistake a flood-carried jumble of dinosaurs for a pack of animals that
died together in situ. Wouldn't a flood-carried jumble tend to be a
variety of dinosaurs (not to mention other animals), with herbivores
outnumbering the carnivore bodies? Come to think of it, wouldn't this
be true in the "tar trap" scenario as well?---unless a baby carnivore
got trapped and the adults then got trapped trying to save it.

      I can understand some reasonable skepticism, but the
flood-scenario sounds like an unreasonable "just so" story that was
thrown out without much thought (unless the reporter took such comments
totally out of context, which I suppose is also a distinct
possibility).>

  Don't get me wrong, here; the sediments in question are fluvial in
nature, not asphaltic. They are the same sediments that encase various
Río Limay Fm. dinosaurs, including *Limaysaurus,* "Anabisetia,"
*Megaraptor,* *Andesaurus,* *Giganotosaurus,* and *Argentinosaurus,*
and would therefore not neccessarily suggest any flash-flood which
usually entagles other species. Sauropods not withstanding in their
size, the associations would perhaps in a asphaltic or catastrophic
association include more than a single small population, as Ken said.
The post he's quoting is another example of lack of the right
information of the right quantity.

  Currie's statements so far concern multiple-age associations of the
same species, and this is telling in and of itself, as well as the
apparent lack of any intraspecific feeding (they aren't chewing each
other up). Its been suspected in theropods, but where the only other
suggestion of pack-related behavior has been dubious at best
(*Deinonychus,* based on remains of several individuals scattered
around a feeding site of *Tenontosaurus* [Ostrom, 1970; Maxwell and
Ostrom, 1996]). But a multiple-ages group without obvious prey
association (as in *Allosaurus*) are now demonstrable for
*Albertosaurus* and a new Argentinian "carcharodontosaurine."

=====
Jaime "James" A. Headden

  Dinosaurs are horrible, terrible creatures! Even the
  fluffy ones, the snuggle-up-at-night-with ones. You think
  they're fun and sweet, but watch out for that stray tail
  spike! Down, gaston, down, boy! No, not on top of Momma!

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