Re: Upper size limits in dino...

[Tom Holtz <tholtz@geochange.er.usgs.gov>]

>1)  A large continent like Pangaea is as far as you can get up the
>species-area curve.
>
>2) Animals at the top of the curve tend to be the largest creatures
>
>3)  If the carrying capacity of a continent collapses, even temporarily, the
>top of the pyramid become unsupportable => extinct.

A nice idea, but it fails on the test.  The largest confirmed dinosaur is
the mid-Cretaceous Argentinosaurus, which existed long after Pangaea had
broken up, and when South America was itself an island continent.

Also, the truly Pangaea world of the Permo-Triassic had smaller creatures
than the post-Pangaea Jurassic and Cretaceous.

                                
Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.                                   
tholtz@geochange.er.usgs.gov
Vertebrate Paleontologist in Exile                  Phone:      703-648-5280
U.S. Geological Survey                                FAX:      703-648-5420
Branch of Paleontology & Stratigraphy
MS 970 National Center
Reston, VA  22092
U.S.A.