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Fw: parental care (cobra)



Jonathan Schmidt replied me (offlist):

> --- Thomas de Wilde <jedimr_thomas@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > > Of the 4000+ amphibians, only a few show any real
> > parental care, and of
> > the
> > > ca 300 turtles and nearly 7,600 species of
> > squamates, only ONE is
> > documented
> > > to show true parental care (the king cobra,
> > Ophiophagus hannah).  A few
> > > others are suspected, but not really shown
> > conclusively to do so.
> What about the nest guarding in komodo dragons?  The
> films I've seen certainly seem to show pretty plainly
> that they guard their nests.
>
> I would also point out that some kinds of turtles
> prefer to lay their eggs in alligator nests due to the
> regulated temperature and the guardian female.  It
> isn't exactly parental care but is more than most
> turtles do.
>

I'm not the one who quoted that of all squamates only king cobra is
documented to show true parental care, nevertheless I have only seen this in
his (or better her) royal highness though. But I won't denie that there are
other squamates or tortoises who show parental care

> > And that's not even caring for the hatchlings, she
> > only guards the eggs,
> > which is in comparison to other squamates quite a
> > lot.
> > But she's gone as soon as they hatch
> >
> > Thomas
> She also builds a nest, not just just guards it.

Woops, seems to have slipped my mind I knew it though

> I've
> heard various accounts that the male cobra also guards
> the nest with the female.

I doubt this is the case, since the female is quite aggressive towards the
male after mating (I saw this in a documentary)
I can be wrong though

> In any event, isn't comparing lizards to dinosaurs a
> bit like comparing sharks to bony fishes?

Probably

> More
> importantly, we know some dinosaurs made nests that
> even if covered in vegetation were relatively exposed
> as mounds.  Is there any animal in existence that
> builds an exposed nest and doesn't guard it?

Not that I'm aware off, but I don't think so

> All crocodilians exhibit some form of parental care as
> do all birds.  Is there any logical reason to think
> that dinosaurs would be any different?

The fact that both birds and crocs do something, prooves for 80% or more
that dinosaurs did the same. But to be sure of dinosaur behaviour we have to
be able to travel through time.

>Is it
> conceivable that they could hide their often huge
> eggs?  The only way that modern animals get away with
> not caring for their young is by being able to hide
> them effectively or by making thousands of eggs.
>
> We may not want to say parental care is proven beyond
> a shadow of a doubt in dinosaurs but is there any real
> reason to think they wouldn't care for their young or
> any reason to not say they more than likely did?

I'll let the list answer this one.
    Thomas

> Jonathan Schmidt
>
>