Re: T-Rex predator vs loafer

[Peter Sheehan <sheehan@csd4.csd.uwm.edu>]

On Fri, 3 Feb 1995 Roudebush@aol.com wrote:

> Dear Readers:
>      All the theories about T-Rex and other dinos eating habits all seem
> vaild to me but one questions has not been answered.  Were the dinos cold or
> warm blooded??  What is the general consensus amoung scientists about this??
>  As a geolgists, my money is on them being warm blooded for several reasons:
>      1)  They were able to supress mammal evolution for such a long
>             time.
>....... ...

But it now seems that it is more important to get into a niche first than 
it is to have the potential to produce a 'better mouse trap'.  Mammals 
were not competing with dinosaurs --they were doing very well in their 
space--and they still are doing well in those habitats today.  It takes a 
huge shock to the ecosystem--like bolide--to exterminate the resident 
group and make it possible for another group to radiate.  

Just a guess but I'll bet this will be the paradigm in 20 years.

Peter Sheehan