non-human sensory biology

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

Sorry, that I didn't include this in a previous message...  I wanted
to clarify something that Betty Cunningham wrote:

> The reptile just sees movements that are similar and ALL of it's
> hunting skills are based in this, or heat-sensing (or in special
> cases like in rattlesnakes, they sense electrical fields), or
> smell. 

I think you've just gotten a couple of things mixed up.  Animals that
are known to sense electric fields include many types of fish
(chondrichthys, osteichthys and even agnatha), and monotreme mammals
(platypus and echidna).  I don't think any snakes have organs adapted
for the detection of electric fields (at least none that have been
discovered).  Rattlesnakes and some boids do have the ability to image
infra-red radiation (in a sense, heat), and that is most likely what
Betty is thinking of.

Sorry for the diversion.  Just to bring this back to
dinosaurs... Grant was supposed to have been loosely based on Jack
Horner, who thinks T. rex was a scavenger.  I wonder if Jack would
have just stood still when faced by the beast (actually I've heard it
reported that when asked if he was interested in seeing the dinosaurs
resurrected a la JP, Jack said, "Hell no, they're dead; let 'em stay
dead!" :-)

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