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Re: Mesozoic birds made insects shrink
Surely there were a lot of non-flying creatures also eating insects during the
Mesozoic? Large flying
insects would have had to land on something eventually, and I suspect they'd be
more vulnerable
to predation by non-volant critters while at rest than they'd be to any volant
predator of the time
while on the wing.
Even if large flying insects rested high up in trees, lizards and mammals were
probably climbing
long before upstart theropods (volant or otherwise) decided 'me too'. Even fish
are no slouches
when it comes to preying on insects resting on branches overhanging the water,
whether leaping
for them or using aquatic artillery (archer fish fossils are known from the
Cretaceous).
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Dann Pigdon
Spatial Data Analyst Australian Dinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia http://home.alphalink.com.au/~dannj
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