Re: T. rex eggs and brooding & naming dinosaurs on one bone

[rowe@lepomis.psych.upenn.edu (Mickey Rowe)]

Phillip Bigelow <n8010095@henson.cc.wwu.edu> suggests:

>    If those Chinese eggs are in fact Tyrannosaurid, it shows how
> disparate the Mother-child size differences were for this group.  A
> 1 ft. hatchling and a 40 foot-long mother must be one of the
> greatest ontogenetic ranges in the animal kingdom.

While I can't imagine denying a Tyrannosaur a cigar if it wanted one,
I doubt the above range even comes close to the Tyrannosaur earning
its prize.  If by great range you mean something like greatest ratio
of maximum to minimum size in the lifetime of an individual, the award
probably goes to a fish or an invertebrate.  Unfortunately I can't
find numbers, but there is a relevant picture in:

Fernald, R. D. (1984). "Vision and Behavior in an African Cichlid
     Fish", _American Scientist_, 72:58-65.

Figure 2 is a close-up picture of the eye of a one-year-old
_Haplochromis burtoni_, with a newly hatched fry adjacent to it.  If
the yearling's eye were cut open, the fry could fit inside it.  Given
that the yearling is not at a maximum size and that the eyes don't
grow as fast as the rest of the animal, I strongly suspect that this
fish's size range is comparable to that of the Tyrannosaur's.
Furthermore, I suspect that other fish (e.g. groupers) have a much
larger range.

And while I'm here...

Last week, sean.kerns@sdrc.com (Snake) asked about naming dinosaurs
based on a single fragment.  Last night I received the Fall 1994 issue
of _The Dinosaur Report_ (it was held back because they wanted to
include information about SVP).  On pages 10-11 there is an article by
Thomas Rich entitled "Naming a New Genus and Species of Dinosaur on
the Basis of a Single Bone".  The article defends his decision to name
_Timimus hermani_ (a putative ornithomimosaur) from only the femur,
and explains why he did *not* name an ulna that appears to have
belonged to a protoceratopsian.  Snake, you'd probably find the
article enlightening.  You should probably write or call the Dinosaur
Society if you'd like more information on joining or at least
obtaining a copy of this report (assuming you're not already a
member...):

The Dinosaur Society, Inc.
200 Carleton Avenue
East Islip, NY 11730

1-800-DINO-DON (1-800-346-6366)

OB DISCLAIMER: I'm just a new member; I have nothing to gain by
               spreading the word

-- 
Mickey Rowe     (rowe@lepomis.psych.upenn.edu)