Re: A "new" theory on Oviraptor philoceratops (I think)

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

"Jaime A. Headden" wrote:
> 
>   Indeed, and this is a the biggest caveat for inferring diet in _any_
> animal: it is not likely that an animal, even one so specialized for a
> particular food, does not occassionally or of neccessity partake of
> something else. There is not one animal today that, to my knowledge, eats
> only _one_ thing, else it may die.

Turtle-headed sea snakes only eat fish eggs. Hummingbirds only drink
nectar (albeit from various species of flower). I believe koalas only
eat eucalypt leaves (from a limited number of tree species). Do pandas
eat anything other than bamboo?

I suspect there are a lot of species with exceptionally specialised
diets. If a particular food source can not be eaten by anything else,
the lack of competition can make dietry specialisation an attractive
option. When extinction looms, they tend to be the ones to bite the dust
first though.

-- 
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Dann Pigdon                   Australian Dinosaurs:
GIS / Archaeologist         http://www.geocities.com/dannsdinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia        http://www.alphalink.com.au/~dannj/
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