Migration in Dinosaurs

["Constable,Miles [Edm]" <CONSTABLEM@mail.edm.ab.doe.ca>]

Darren Grocke writes "The debate is hot regarding migratory behaviour in 
dinosaurs, especially when more find are being found in 
high-palaeolatitudinal sites"

Migration (defined as a mass movement of a species in response to seasonal 
environmental changes) in dinosaurs will be difficult to prove, as the 
behaviour of species will likely vary depending on their physiology and the 
ecology of the area they are living in and the climate of the time. However, 
even if the climate of the time for any given species was sufficiently such 
that there was no need for migration, herds of ceratopsians or hadrosaurs 
would still have found it necessary to move constantly as the local fodder 
resources were depleted. This behavioural pattern is seen in all species 
that form large herds i.e. caribou and wildebeest. Although these species 
also migrate. Now, it may be difficult to show, even with bone chemistry, 
that dinosaurs were moving in response to seasonal, environmental changes, 
or were moving to find more food. Any such "proof" would have to show with 
palaeo-climatological data that the species in question would have had a 
need to migrate.

Miles Constable
Still a paleontological bystander