Re: Hadrosaur defence tactics

[Thomas_R_HOLTZ@umail.umd.edu (th81)]

>I was reading some things about Ornithopods that says that Hadrosaurids
>were incapable of running fast.  So, then, how did large ornithopods 
>defend themselves from predators?  They didn't have armor or horns or
>whiplash tails, so how could they defend themselves?  Could they have 
>had some form of defense that didn't show up in the fossil record?
>Could have had something like poison glands or even foul-smell
>secreting glands like a skunk?

You are forgetting one of the most common defense systems in Nature: the
Buddy System (as in, when the shark comes, throw your buddy at him!).  Not
all prey items defend themselves per say, but reproduce in such numbers that
a reasonable amount of the population is likely to survive to breed.

(Also, with the enlarged nasal regions in all euhadrosaurs, they probably
had a better chance of smelling a tyrannosaurid coming some ways off).

Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
Vertebrate Paleontologist
Dept. of Geology
University of Maryland
College Park, MD  20742
Email:Thomas_R_HOLTZ@umail.umd.edu (th81)
Fax: 301-314-9661
Phone:301-405-4084