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Re: Built Like a Race Horse, Slow as an Elephant?



Andrew Simpson writes:

--- Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au> wrote:
Actually, it was almost certainly a
pronghorn/pronghorn arms race. There would always have been far more pronghorns than
cheetahs, so cheetah predation on a population of slow coaches would
still not have been enough to threaten their long-term survival.


I doubt pronghorns would have evolved to run as fast
as a cheetah (or as close as their biology would have allowed) just to
avoid the occasional bit of cheetah predation. I think it's more likely that
pronghorns evolved to run fast to compete with each other.


It's like the old saying goes: if you and a friend
are chased by a tiger, you don't have to outrun the tiger. You just have to
outrun your friend...

I'm not sure I'm following you Dann. How are the
Pronghorns evolving speed? Are you saying that the
North American Cheetah are or are not responsible?
Because the Proghorns can't make themselves faster and
have no reason too unless something is chasing them or
if there is an advantage to getting somewhere quicker.
(A quickly dwindling food source perhaps).

Cheetahs (and other less speedy predators) are the indirect cause, however it was almost certainly not an 'arms race' between predator and prey. Where herd animals are concerned, they only have to out run the slowest members of the herd. Hence the competition for speediness is between animals of their own species, not directly between predator and prey.


The evolution of horns seems to have followed a similar pathway. Antelopes use their horns against each other (or as sexual displays) far more often than they do defending themselves against predators with them. Therefore the development of steadily bigger or sharper horns may not have been an 'arms race' against predators, but rather due to intraspecies interactions.

The only antelope predatory defense that I can think of that seems a direct response to predation is the practice of pronking. Rather than demonstrate speed and strength to a predator directly by evading them (a huge waste of energy), pronking allows an antelope to demonstrate it's fittness to a predator without excessive energy loss. When an antelope pronks, it is communicating directly to the predator, rather than competing with herd members.

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Dann Pigdon
GIS / Archaeologist         http://www.geocities.com/dannsdinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia        http://heretichides.soffiles.com
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